The small world coffee increases prices in response to the supply shortage

The cost of coffee at the Small World Coffee, a must -see of Princeton, increased in response to supply shortages on the coffee market, said an Instagram post on February 23.

“Coffee prices have skyrocketed in the past year and should not drop any soon,” said the post.

Some items, such as driping coffee, expressions with one stroke and Americanos, increased by $ 0.25, while others, such as unique cappuccino, single and flat white latte increased by $ 0.50. Cappuccino strong increased by $ 0.70 and Mocha prices increased by $ 1.00.

“I came a lot. I would be here every morning, “Megan Santamore ’25 told Daily Princetonian in an interview. “But now, a little less because I have an espresso machine, and the prices have increased, so I can’t do that.”

Mariana Altomare ’25 told the “prince” that she considered the world’s little coffee as “definitively more treat”.

Small World allows students to buy coffee with their paw points, provided to each undergraduate student on the unlimited meal plan by the university.

Lucy McWeeny ’28 said: “I am constantly aware of the cost of coffee. When I get these cold beers in cold foam, it’s like $ 7.50, which is a lot of money, so I use paw points, which is fantastic. But once I am out of these, it will be devastating. And they go fairly quickly because coffee is simply expensive. “”

Cate Barry ’27, a common global consumer, shared: “I just use my points. I don’t care. “

In a declaration to the “prince”, Jessica Durrie, co-founder and owner of Small World, explained how the shop would adapt. She explained that the price changes came from a gap between supply and demand on the coffee market, which she attributed to the reduction in the production of coffee beans in Vietnam and Brazil due to significant drought and frost.

“In addition to the low supply, demand has also increased internationally with countries that are traditionally tea drinkers consume more coffee,” wrote Durrie. “The other important factor in play here is market speculation, traders increasing prices for a financial gain.”

According to the Data Blog of the World Bank Group, the prices of Arabica and Robusta, the two main grains of Coffee Coffee C, increased by 69 and 60 percentage points, respectively, from January 1 to December 1, 2024. In addition, in February of this year, prices per book of cafes reached daily tops of $ 4.24 per day, reaching $ 4.40 in a day, was the highest.

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“Whether it is an isolated incident or the canary of the coal mine for the effects that climate change has on the world supply on coffee is still to be seen,” wrote Durrie.

McWeeny, also a barista for Princeton Coffee Club, shared that the campus coffee clubs had not been affected.

“The little world seems to have problems with coffee supply, which is why they had to increase prices,” said McWeeny. At Coffee Club, she added: “But that does not seem to affect coffee clubs, so we were able to maintain the fairly stable prices.”

In attempts to restrict the increase in price, the Petit World will be based more on local partners and minimize waste in their coffee manufacturing process.

“It’s time to extend connections and build friendships in industry. It’s also time to connect with other coffee roasts and share resources, ”wrote Durrie. “One of our first employees launched a very successful coffee and roasting company in Oakland, California, and he and I were in constant contact.”

In addition, the company will launch an internal initiative, the complete Cup project, which will analyze the means to maximize the use of coffee. The store will also plan to buy new coffee mills to help reduce the amount of waste.

Durrie shared that part of the fight has also just been a little coffee.

“We … try our best to buy our lots of coffee at times when the market is not crazy,” said Durrie. “We are too small from a company to use financial mechanisms to cover the market.”

The concerns of the small world support the global concerns of the state of the international coffee market. Durrie specifically cited how the end of the USAID puts the coffee improvement plan of $ 5 million, intended to solve the problems of coffee and agriculture production, in danger.

In the end, Durrie wrote: “The major effect of all this is that prices are increasing and more than they have ever increased before, certainly more than the little world saw during its 31 years of activity.”

The small world will continue to respond to these concerns because they put their measures to reduce price inflation and maximize their coffee supply.

“Cafes have always been an essential element of any community, and we will continue to make sure that (the little world) continues to provide this to Princeton,” wrote Durrie.

Luke Grippo is editor of the staff of the “Prince”. It is from South Jersey and generally covers administrative problems, including USG, CPUC and institutional heritage.

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