I've noticed my daily cup of coffee has been costing more and more these days. So I decided to check in with a local coffee shop in my neighborhood of DeWitt to see how rising coffee bean costs are affecting business.
- Coffee beans purchased by DeWitt's Dwelling Coffee have risen $10 per five-pound bag since opening in 2024, a 20% increase
- The shop is adapting by relying more on baked goods sales to offset higher bean costs and maintain profit margins
- Rising costs are impacting the coffee shop's ability to donate profits to local nonprofit organizations
WATCH: Coffee bean costs rising cause local shops to adapt
At Dwelling Coffee, workers tell me the cost of coffee beans has continued to rise from last year into this year, meaning baked goods could be just as important as coffee to keeping the business brewing.
"From last year they have gone up a little bit. Not significantly, but enough that where the margins are in a coffee business, it can have an effect," said Simon Rademacher, operations manager at Dwelling Coffee.
Rademacher says higher bean prices don't just impact the shop, but also the organizations they support through donations. The coffee shop donates their profits to local non-profit groups.
"So everything over operating expenses, yeah we do have different organizations that we partner with. So obviously with rising costs, that's something that we have to consider," Rademacher said.
That's meant adapting, relying a little more on sales of baked goods to help keep the business rolling in the dough.
"Other aspects that help us spread the cost of those beans if you will. If we can add a baked good to that, then it helps those costs definitely go down for the coffee as well on our end," Rademacher said.
He says a five-pound bag of coffee beans has gone up about $10 since the shop opened in 2024. That's about a 20% jump, and it's leading the business to raise prices on some menu items.
"And that's the toughest part about small business is trying to make sure that the customers are happy while also making something to stay afloat if you will to make it profitable. Those little changes do make a difference," Rademacher said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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