Cafe coffee prices set to boil over

The price of a cafe coffee looks set to climb because of soaring global commodity values.

With green coffee bean prices up about 80 per cent, cafe chains and wholesalers predict the cost of a flat white could rise at least 50c.

Bad weather may slash harvests 25 per cent in Brazil and Vietnam, the world's largest producers.

The cuts led the International Coffee Organisation to predict a global shortfall of 8 per cent this year.

Coffee is the world's second-most-traded commodity - behind crude oil, which has also soared in price.

Local coffee bean broker John Burton, whose company imports about one-third of the 6000 tonnes entering New Zealand each year, said brokers and wholesalers could no longer absorb the increase.

He said a strong kiwi dollar and hedging - where coffee is bought up to six months in advance - had allowed prices to remain on hold but "we will now start to see increases".

Atomic Coffee Roaster general manager Harry Goffelman said rises of 15 to 20 per cent were likely.

" Within a year coffee prices could be double what they are now."

He said other wholesalers were being asked to pay double what they had in the past.

The coast of a flat white - the group's most popular drink - was set to rise 50c a cup in the next few months, with further increases likely throughout the year.

Mr Goffelman said prices looked unlikely to fall in the coming year.

Cerebos Gregg's spokesman Rob Tanna said the company, which supplies a range of coffee products, was reviewing prices.

The company had endured price increases of up to 80 per cent in the past year, he said, but that would need to be passed on to consumers.

A 10 per cent price rise was likely in the next month, with further reviews expected over the year.