Filenews 29 November 2025
Increased tariffs imposed by Trump on coffee imports coincided with low production of the product this year, and both factors are helping to keep wholesale and retail prices at historically high levels. Analysts even predict that new increases are coming in the near future from large coffee trading companies, which will gradually burden end consumers as well.
Italian roasting company Illycaffe SpA, known for its high-quality espresso sold in silver and red boxes, plans to raise prices again in January, after two increases this year, CEO Cristina Scocchia said in an interview, as reported by Bloomberg.
"There is a limit to how much a company can absorb the price level of green coffee," Scocchia said. "We will increase the price in all countries and in all sales channels," he added.
Illycaffe's moves are likely to be followed by other companies in the sector, because they argue that consumer prices have still not covered the cost of raw materials.
Illycaffe predicts that raw coffee bean prices will stabilize between $2.80 and $3 per pound in the second half of 2026, which is still above the average of the last five years. "We were hoping for a much more dramatic decline," Scocchia said in a telephone interview. The coffee industry is facing a "very, very difficult" situation due to the persistently high prices of raw beans, which it attributed more to rumours than to actual supply problems.
The company maintained its strategy of sourcing from Brazil during the period when the US had imposed tariffs, as it has unique blends that require the country's coffee. It now plans to move forward with production partnerships in the US, which account for 20% of its turnover. Illycaffe sought to limit the impact on consumers by absorbing a significant portion of the cost increase into its profit margins, helping to increase its sales volume. Despite high prices, coffee demand remained resilient.
