As coffee prices hover near all-time highs globally, Tim Hortons announced it is now charging more for a cup of Joe. The coffee giant says it has hiked prices for the drink by 1.5 per cent per cup, representing the first coffee price increase for the company in three years. That means the average cup of coffee at Tims will cost about 5 cents more. The company says the increase is “more than reasonable” and notes the price of coffee has more than doubled over the past three years. “It’s about 50 per cent more than the five-year average right now, and we don’t see how that price will drop any time soon. So, it was just a matter of time before we saw some chains announcing an increase,” said Sylvain Charlebois, Agri-Foods Analytics Lab director with Dalhousie University. “Tim Hortons is often the first. We are expecting other chains to follow suit.” Outside of Tim Hortons and other coffee shops, Canadians are paying nearly 28 per cent more for coffee at grocery stores this year compared to last. Dry conditions have impacted the growing season in Brazil and other coffee producing nations, while U.S. tariffs are sending ripple effects throughout the market, says Charlebois. Much of the coffee that Canada imports comes from Brazil, but before it makes its way to the great white north, it goes through the U.S., where it’s roasted and then sent up north. With the U.S. slapping a 50 per cent tariff on Brazil, importers are forced to pay that levy before coffee beans end up in Canada. “Tariffs are just making coffee around the world more expensive, even if you actually avoid the United States. That’s the thing about tariffs,” said Charlebois. “Tariffs will create this inflationary pressure that impacts every single trader around the world because the United States is a huge market. It’s a huge economy.” For smaller, locally owned coffee businesses like Little Victories Coffee Roasters, price fluctuations have forced them to increase prices for the first time in about a year-and-a-half. “What cost us $26,000 in November of 2024, in February of 2025 cost us $40,000,” said Andrew Bassett, co-founder of Little Victories Coffee Roasters. “As the market fluctuated back down, it’s now back down to around $33,000-$35,000. It’s ultimately still a huge increase and it’s the fluctuation that is challenging.” However, Bassett says, his business has managed to avoid the brunt of Trump’s tariffs, which is helping to keep costs grounded. “We have the benefit of buying huge amounts of coffee, shipping them directly to Canada, missing the tariffs and we negotiate directly with the producer in terms of the price that we pay,” he said. “So, we’ve been able to be insulated from some of the price differences and increases.” With files from CTV’s Joe Van Wonderen.
