JDE Peet’s raises coffee prices 64% in 18 months as global bean costs fall
The parent company of Douwe Egberts, JDE Peet’s, announced a fresh price hike of 10 percent to 25 percent for its coffee, prompting immediate protests from retailers and specialty coffee brands. Under the new pricing, a kilogram of coffee beans will cost 21.55 euros, pushing the price per half-kilo to 10.69 euros, De Telegraaf reports.
This is the third increase since January last year, resulting in a total price surge of 64 percent over 18 months. The escalation reportedly led Jumbo’s procurement group Everest, online grocer Picnic, and Jumbo’s French and German partners to halt orders from JDE Peet’s.
Despite the price hikes, commodity experts report a drop in raw coffee prices this year. Alexander Sterk, CEO of the commodity intelligence firm Vesper, told De Telegraaf: “The winter in Brazil has not caused much frost damage, which had been feared. As things stand, we are heading for a record harvest this year. I see more reason for a price decline than an increase.” Analysts expressed surprise that consumers will pay more while global market prices have fallen over 20 percent since January.
Gianluigi Ferrari, CEO of Everest, accused JDE Peet’s of prioritizing profit over fairness. “JDE Peet’s talks to shareholders about ‘price discipline’ to protect profitability. Ultimately they are simply saying: we want to make more profit,” Ferrari told De Telegraaf.
In February, JDE Peet’s reported a 13.4 percent profit increase for 2024, announced plans to repurchase 250 million dollars in shares, and raised its dividend. The company also stated it saw “little price sensitivity” among customers and that “rising coffee prices have been successfully managed.” A spokesperson countered that JDE Peet’s remains focused on consumers and retailers: “Thanks to the way we source, we can offer more stable prices over the long term.”
Smaller coffee brands criticized the lack of transparency in how prices are set. Ferry Poppegaai, founder of Wonderbeans, told De Telegraaf, “The way coffee prices are determined is totally non-transparent. Seventy percent of transactions happen between parties who do nothing with the coffee besides trading.”
He noted that 12 million people cultivate and deliver coffee, five million of whom earn less than 2.15 dollars a day. Poppegaai, who spent 20 years in the food industry, including at JDE Peet’s, launched Wonderbeans to funnel more consumer money to farmers. “It is misery among the farmers who grow our coffee. They don’t even have boots to walk between the plants. The children of farmers in Uganda could go to school for free, but they don’t because they are too busy arranging food,” he told De Telegraaf.
Bart Dingjan of De Koffiejongens told De Telegraaf that his company also aims for price stability by sourcing directly and securing multi-year contracts with farmers. “I don’t understand why JDE Peet’s wants to raise prices,” he said. Asked about claims that large coffee companies support fair pay and sustainability, he responded: “Greenwashing might be a big word, but they highlight one project where everything is fine to create the impression that everything is fine.” He noted that specialty coffee prices are now only a few cents higher than JDE Peet’s recommended retail price, but most of the money goes to farmers. Dingjan added: “We don’t have George Clooney in our ads, and I don’t get a 60 million euros bonus.”
