George Cebulka > wrote:
> Sheldon wrote:
> > George Cebulka > wrote:
> >> One question: Is it just me, or has anybody else noticed the price of
> >> coffee go though the roof in the last 6-8 months? What I used to buy for
> >> $7 a can now costs $9.37.... a 25% increase and there is supposed to
> >> be a glut amoung coffee producers...
>
> >> George - Who is sitting on about an 8 month supply of coffee that he got
> >> a $6 a can.
>
> > I haven't seen coffee spike. �I see you're in PA, what kind of coffee
> > are you buying, and what size can? �I've been buying Eight O'Clock
> > whole bean for five years now, it's been pretty much the same price
> > all that time... I buy it at Walmart, they have the best price, a 36
> > ounce bag costs like $10. �I've found coffee prices all over the place
> > depending on where you buy, the small local market in town charges
> > like $16, the large market, Price Chopper charges like $13, Amazon.com
> > charges $17.77... Walmart has the lowest price.
>
> > But coffee is one of those crops that can have a poor year, so there
> > can be true shortages, you're smart to stock up.
>
> I'm in Pittsburgh. The coffee that I buy is Maxwell House medium in the
> 48oz can. I get these at Costco. They were running a special back in
> December or January at $6 a can and I bought 24 cans (I buy for our
> office also.) I go about one a month for buy supplies for work and since
> Febuary, I've seen the price go from ~7 to 7.80 to 8.29 to 8.89 to 9.19
> as of last week.

When you buy coffee in those large cans a good portion of the increase
is for that large steel can, a lot of energy is consumed to make
steel... you'd do much better pricewise buying coffee in bags. And
even with the bumper crop it still costs a great deel to ship coffee
from the tropics, and a lot of energy is consumed in roasting beans...
if you factor in the recent surge in energy costs I think you will
better understand why coffee prices have risen. When the price of oil
doubles everything goes up in price accordingly... my last electric
bill (June, July, ten days in August) is $800, up from $600 for the
same period last year and my useage is the same... due to the oil
crunch electric has risen some 30 pct. Fortunately the A/C season is
coming to an end. This afternoon I went for my yearly eye exam, I
needed a slight increase in Rx for distance and reading. My exam cost
$75 and the new lenses cost $200... last year the exam cost $55 and
the lenses cost $160. Fortunately I have high quality frames that are
still as good as brand new so I don't need to replace those.
Everything costs more... I would urge folks not to use their oven
until winter.