The Rising Cost of Your Daily Cup
Dear coffee lover, your everyday cup of coffee may be costing you more than you think.
If you tally up the cost of an average RM10 (~USD2.10) cup of specialty coffee over a month, the total can be eye-opening; have you done the math yet?. The idea that daily coffee consumption could exceed what we comfortably afford as a necessity is a real concern.
While some may argue that coffee is a "want" rather than a "need," many daily coffee drinkers would strongly disagree.
Why Are Coffee Prices Rising?
Unfortunately, we now need to understand how the global coffee market directly affects our daily consumption.
C-price, the global benchmark for the price of commodity green coffee beans, is heavily influenced by supply and demand across coffee businesses worldwide. A shortage of coffee can drive prices up, but other factors—such as currency fluctuations, shipping disruptions, and speculative trading—also contribute to price spikes.
If you've noticed your favorite local coffee shop slightly increasing its prices, this should come as no surprise.
The truth is, the C-price is increasing due to adverse weather conditions in major coffee-producing nations like Brazil and Vietnam, reducing harvest totals by at least 3-6% [1].
At the same time, global coffee consumption rose by 4.2% in 2023, with the International Coffee Organisation (ICO) projecting further growth in the coming years. In Malaysia alone, the average person consumed 2.2kg of coffee in 2022—a 5.2% increase from 2017, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia.
C-Price Hits an All-Time High
As a culmination of all the above factors, an all-time high Arabica C-price was recorded at ~RM44.97/kg (USD4.30/lbs) on February 10, 2025 [2].
This is a significant increase compared to February 2024, when it was only around ~RM19.87/kg (USD1.90/lbs). That's around a 126.32% year-on-year increase!
How Does This Affect Specialty Coffee?
While specialty coffee businesses operate somewhat independently—since they have always paid a premium for quality—the industry still faces ripple effects from C-price fluctuations.
As raw bean costs increase, roasters must adjust pricing to maintain quality while staying profitable. This, in turn, affects cafés and consumers, who may see a price hike on their favorite brews.
How The Crackpots Coffee Is Adapting
At The Crackpots Coffee Roaster, we’ve always prioritized supporting our partners and customers through market fluctuations.
For our wholesale clients, we initially absorbed rising costs to help them stay competitive, knowing how challenging it is to run a business. However, with the C-price nearly doubling, this approach became unsustainable.
As of March 2025, we’ve had to implement a modest price adjustment of less than 10%—far below the actual cost surge—to maintain quality while keeping our partners' margins viable.
On the retail side, we refuse to compromise on quality or flavor just to cut costs. Instead of taking shortcuts, we’ve worked relentlessly to explore multiple trading options to ensure that every bag of coffee meets our specialty standards.
For example, we’ve negotiated a favorable contract with a top producer in Thailand for a customized pulped natural lot—as a strategic replacement for our usual Brazilian coffees—to navigate the price hike effectively.
What This Means for You
You might be asking now:
"Does this change my daily coffee routine?"
"Will I still be able to afford my everyday cup of coffee?"
If you're a home brewer, you've probably noticed that your favorite bag of coffee beans costs more than before. This raises an important question:
Will you cut back on coffee, or will you adjust your expectations and budget to accommodate the price hike?
At The Crackpots, we deeply value and reward the loyalty of our customers. Many of our regulars haven’t felt the full impact of rising coffee costs—because we’ve chosen to absorb much of the increase instead of passing it on.
For instance, despite the surge in cost prices, our regular black coffees brewed with high-quality Hop Hop Series (our seasonal SOE offering) remain at RM11 (~USD2.30)—just as they always have.
But how long can we keep at it? We’re not too sure.
However, when we do need to make adjustments, we hope our fellow crackpots will appreciate that we've kept the inflation monster at bay for as long as we could!
Can You Still Enjoy Great Coffee?
The good news is that there are ways to continue enjoying great coffee despite rising costs:
- Support Local Specialty Coffee Shops – they often offer more quality-to-money pricing compared to big coffee chains if you cherish quality.
- Brew at Home – Investing in a good home brewing setup is more cost-effective than you think! (Trust us, it’s part of our origin story of how we became coffee roasters.)
- Stay Informed – Understanding the coffee market helps you make smarter purchasing decisions.
What’s Next for Coffee Prices?
The rising C-price is a complex issue, driven by multiple global factors beyond our control.
Based on current projections, the C-price is expected to stabilize and decrease by 30% by the end of 2025. However, after around 100% hike earlier, this still means an actual inflation of about 70% for 2025.
Will Coffee Remain a Non-Negotiable in Your Life?
So, will the coffee price hike affect your daily cup, or is coffee simply a non-negotiable in your life?
Either way, it’s time to start thinking about the future of our coffee habits.
If you appreciate our efforts to consistently bring you an above-average specialty coffee experience despite price hikes, explore our latest offerings online, or swing by our shop in USJ to see how we make every cup worth it!