Tim Hortons raises coffee prices, calls hike ‘more than reasonable’

Senior director at Agri-Foods analytics lab Sylvain Charlebois says weather in South America and U.S. tariffs are causing prices to rise.

Canada’s iconic coffee chain is charging more for the drink, reflecting a wider trend of jittery coffee prices.

In a statement to CTV News, a Tim Hortons spokesperson said the restaurant chain is raising coffee prices for the first time in three years, suggesting that compared to inflation, the price increase of 1.5 per cent per cup was “more than reasonable.”

The price of coffee beans has more than doubled, Tim Hortons said. According to MarketWatch.com, the price jumped from C$2.21 to C$5.45 per pound over the last three years. The coffee chain said that the price hike would boil out to “an average of three cents per cup.”

Outside of drive-thrus, Canadians paid 27.9 per cent more for their coffee at grocery stores in August compared to the same time last year, StatCan reported last month.

Canada imports nearly a quarter of its coffee from Colombia, with Brazil, Mexico, Peru and Central American countries making up the rest. The coffee trade was valued at more than $1.3 billion in July, importing 131 million kilograms of unroasted coffee.

U.S. tariffs affect your cup of joe

Although most of Canada’s unroasted coffee comes from Mexico and further south, roasted coffee largely comes from the United States, according to StatCan.

Canada imported 3.9 million kilograms of roasted coffee, mostly from the U.S. in July 2025. Roasted coffee was among the products affected by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Brazil and then were part of Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on the U.S., StatCan reported.

The statistics agency said that the counter-tariff measures were “possibly affecting costs for some Canadian coffee importers.”

Food prices rising especially fast

Food prices rose 3.5 per cent in August, Loblaw reported in their September food inflation report. It found that food prices are rising faster than the Consumer Price Index, which only bumped up 1.9 per cent that month.

Loblaw claims that counter-tariffs were raising prices for Canadians, but since Sept 1, when most were dropped, products are back to “flowing through” to customers.

Loblaw also highlighted coffee in their report, saying “coffee prices have climbed back near their 2025 highs,” blaming the 50 per cent U.S. tariffs on Brazil, the largest coffee exporter in the world.

Loblaw suggested that buyers have to “compete” for alternative suppliers while Brazilian coffee growers are “holding on to their beans,” and being cautious with their sales. U.S. tariffs and cautious Brazilian coffee growers are “keeping global coffee markets volatile,” Loblaw said.