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With premium Arabica coffee costs continuing to increase, Community Coffee Co., a roaster, retailer and coffee service operator based in Baton Rouge, La., announced that it is raising the price of its popular one-pound Red Bag(TM) coffees. This will equate to an increase of less than two pennies per cup for brewed coffee at home.

“We understand consumers are concerned about recent price increases on a number of goods and services,” said Matthew Saurage, president of Community Coffee Co., in a prepared statement. “We certainly share that concern and will always seek to deliver our products at the best possible price to our customers.”

Since May of last year, the cost of unroasted Arabica coffee beans on the Intercontinental Exchange has increased by over 40 percent to its highest level in more than 10 years. This has significantly impacted the price that Community Coffee Co. pays for its premium and specialty coffees. Despite these rising costs, the company will continue to use only 100 percent premium quality Arabica beans in its coffees, which are among the highest quality coffee beans available.

“Community Coffee Co. will not compromise its quality standards, using only 100 percent premium Arabica coffee,” said Saurage. “We will use only the very best-tasting coffee beans available to create the distinctive, full-bodied taste of Community coffee.”

Editor’s Insight: This news announcement notes that some coffees that contain the less expensive Robusta beans are less affected by higher priced Arabica beans. The company also notes that Robusta coffees have a less desirable flavor.

The coffee service industry cannot afford to switch to less desirable coffee. It has taken the coffee service industry many years to recover from the late 1980s and early 1990s when operators served lower quality coffee to save costs.

Community Coffee Co. notes that some competitors have chosen to offset costs by packaging their product in a downsized container. This is bad news. 03-27-08 by Elliot Maras