WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Coffee vendors are expressing concerns over rising prices after war has broken out in the Middle East.
These vendors tell WPTV they’re concerned about jump in oil prices, as crude oil broke $90 per barrel Friday, will increase shipping costs for coffee beans. The jump would come about six months after the White House removed most tariffs on coffee along with other agricultural products last November.
WATCH BELOW: 'More costs to a small business like myself makes it very hard to survive,' Allison Boettcher tells WPTV
Allison Boettcher, who owns Blue Mountain Coffee shop in West Palm Beach, said she paid about $10,000 in tariffs last year. She said she swallowed those costs, because she was concerned an increase in prices, which she said is priced at a high-level, would cause people to shop in other places.
“Oh my God. It was immense. We lost, we had to pay $10,000 last year,” Boettcher said. “But thank God the tariffs on coffee has been lifted. It would have been disastrous for us.”
The World Bank said coffee prices remained high after bad weather in parts of the globe, where coffee is grown, decreased the supply. It originally expected prices to decrease this year, but that was before war between Iran and United States as well as Israel started last Saturday. Boettcher said she’s now concerned fuel costs will add to her business costs.
“We’re already in a very tough economic situation and so adding more and more costs to small business like myself makes it very hard to survive,” she said to WPTV’s Ethan Stein at the Downtown West Palm Beach Coffee Fest.
The caffeinated celebration was held Friday in honor of Employee Appreciation Day next to City Hall.
Kimberly Truong, who owns a Vietnamese coffee shop called Ba Cafe after her father, said she’s also dealt with the tariffs since she started operating her business. She said she’s unsure how the war would affect her business in the months ahead.
"Most frustrating thing about the price jump is wanting to deliver an affordable product," she said.
