Maxwell House Raises Prices 22%
Friday, March 18th, 2011Here is the Reuters Article. It is long butkmo well worth reading. I urge you to raise your prices for whole bean and the cup.
13:37 17Mar11 -UPDATE 1-Kraft hikes some Maxwell coffee prices by 22 pct
* Kraft ups ground coffee prices by 70 cts/lb equivalent
* Tassimo, Maxwell House International not affected
(Adds details, background)
By Marcy Nicholson
NEW ORLEANS, March 17 (Reuters) – Kraft Foods Inc <KFT.N>
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 <KCc2> 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 <SJM.N>, known as the trendsetter for coffee price
changes, most recently increased its coffee prices last month,
by 10 percent.
Robusta futures <LRCc2> 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))
13:37 17Mar11 -FACTBOX-Recent history of coffee price moves
March 17 (Reuters) – Kraft Foods Inc <KFT.N>, one of the
top coffee roasters in the United States, said Thursday it
raised prices for many of its roast coffees by 22 percent,
marking its fourth and biggest price hike in a year.
The price hike went into effect March 16. [ID:nN17442469]
The company’s reason was the soaring cost of green coffee
as arabica futures <KCc2> rallied to a 34-year high earlier
this month and robusta futures <LRCc2> vaulted to a three-year
peak on Thursday.
Roasters have widely been forced to raise their prices
sporadically since June 2010 when the rally began, initially
spurred by fund buying and then sustained by tight supplies of
washed beans.
The popular beverage is still considered an affordable
luxury in the developed world. Below is some of the recent
history of its price moves in the futures market and on store
shelves.
* May 1997: New York spot arabica coffee futures <KCc1>
surge to $3.18 per lb.
* 1997: The then Folgers Coffee Co raised prices for
Folgers coffee by a staggering 29 percent due to soaring green
bean prices. This was followed by another price hike of nearly
10 percent a couple months later.
* May 18, 2010: J.M. Smucker Co <SJM.N> raised list prices
for majority of its Folgers, Dunkin’ Donuts, Millstone and
Folgers Gourmet Selections coffees by about 4 percent.
* May 21: Kraft Foods <KFT.N> raises list price of some
Maxwell House and Yuban roast and ground coffee by about 4
percent.
* June 11: Arabica coffee futures <KCc1> trading on ICE
begin to rally on heavy fund buying following about five months
of sideways dealings between $1.2655 and $1.3985 per lb.
* Aug. 3: Smucker’s raises prices of Folgers and other well
known brands by average of 9 percent in biggest widespread rise
in years.
