We found this article quite interesting. In fact just this weekend Starbucks had to raise their prices by $1 also. Please read below for more information. If you have questions about why this is happening, don't hesitate to call (865.681.0517) or email us (info@viennacoffeecompany.com).


By Marcy Nicholson

NEW ORLEANS, March 17 (Reuters) - Kraft Foods Inc

said Thursday it raised its U.S. list prices for Maxwell House

and Yuban ground coffees by a whopping 22 percent and its

instant coffee by around 10 percent.

The price hikes, which were effective on Wednesday, marked

the company's fourth coffee price hike in a year and came after

arabica coffee futures soared to a 34-year high this month.

"(The) increases are due to sustained increases in green

coffee," Kraft spokeswoman Bridget MacConnell told Reuters on

the sidelines of the annual National Coffee Association meeting

in New Orleans.

The company raised the price for Maxwell House and Yuban

ground coffees by 70 cents per pound equivalent, and for

instant coffees by 6.25 cents per ounce.

Excluded from the increase were single-serve Tassimo items

and the Maxwell House International line of specialty soluble

beverages, MacConnell said.

Arabica coffee futures more than doubled in price by early

March in a rally that began in June 2010 on fund buying and

tight supplies, with the benchmark May contract reaching

a 34-year high for the second position at $2.9665 per lb.

Roasters have been forced to raise their list prices over

the past nine months as a result of the sustained rally.

Kraft most recently raised its prices in December. J.M.

Smucker Co , known as the trendsetter for coffee price

changes, most recently increased its coffee prices last month,

by 10 percent.

Robusta futures trading on Liffe in London have

joined in the rally, soaring to a three-year high at $2,661 per

tonne on Thursday.

(Editing by Walter Bagley)

((marcy.nicholson@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6043; Reuters

Messaging: marcy.nicholson.reuters.com@reuters.net))