WATERBURY, VT. — K-Cups are about to get costlier.
Keurig Green Mountain, Inc. has announced a price increase of up to 9% on all portion packs for use in its brewing systems, as well as on traditional bagged, fractional packs, and bulk coffee. The increase will take effect Nov. 3.
Driving the price hike are higher costs for green coffee and cocoa, packaging materials, energy and transportation. Green coffee prices alone have risen approximately 55% over the past year, Keurig said.
“We have been closely monitoring increasing costs, including the cost of green coffee,” said John Whoriskey, president of U.S. sales and marketing at Keurig. “Many of our competitors already have implemented price increases in light of the reality of sustained input cost increases. After careful review, we determined that it is necessary for us to adopt a small price increase in light of these higher costs. We understand that consumers have many beverage options, and we will continue to innovate and price competitively to win consumers’ business.”
Keurig is not the only company recently to raise prices in response to commodity inflation. The Hershey Co., Mondelēz International Inc., and Mars North America have announced increases on candy as the costs for cocoa and dairy ingredients continue to climb.
In June, the J.M. Smucker Co. said it would raise the list price for most of its packaged coffee products sold in the United States, primarily under Folgers and Dunkin’ Donuts brands, by an average of 9%. That same month, Kraft Foods Group Inc. revealed it had raised prices on some of its ground coffees under the Maxwell House and Yuban brands by approximately 10%.
