Coffee Prices: Why Are Some Coffees More Expensive?

Why Is Coffee (Still) Too Cheap? Understanding the True Cost of a Cup

Article written by Mathilde Bouterre under the supervision of Julie Braud, Marketing and Communication Director.
July 2026
Estimated reading time: 12 to 15 minutes
Interview with Matthieu Chaumont (Product & Impact Manager), economic data from INSEE regarding the evolution of coffee prices, data and feedback from Maison Anne Caron.

In Brief

The price of coffee does not solely depend on the beans. It reflects the choices made from the field to the cup: quality, remuneration of producers, transport, roasting, and distribution. This guide helps you understand what explains the price differences between two coffees.

Coffee is one of those products we buy almost mechanically. A cup in the morning, a packet at the supermarket, an espresso on the terrace… We generally know its price, but much less what it actually costs.

Behind a packet of coffee, however, are several months of work, thousands of kilometers traveled, and a succession of professions that intervene long before roasting. Producers, cooperatives, exporters, logistics providers, transporters, roasters… so many players whose work remains largely invisible at the time of purchase.

This reality raises a simple question: why are there such price differences between two coffees? Is it solely a matter of quality? Does sailing transport explain this difference? Or does it simply reveal something deeper about how coffee is produced, transported, and valued?

Through this series of content, Maison Anne Caron explores the different stages that shape a coffee, from production to the cup. After dedicating several articles to sailing transport, the journey of a coffee bean, and the criteria for choosing a coffee transported by sail, we invite you to change your perspective.

The goal is not to convince you to buy the most expensive coffee. It is to understand what the price of a coffee really covers, why some choices cost more than others, and how to better interpret this information when making your purchases.

Because, in the end, the real question may not be: “Why are some coffees expensive?” but rather: “Why are we used to coffee costing so little?”

Key Takeaways

Before diving into the details, here are the main ideas to remember:

• The price of a coffee does not only compensate for the beans: it reflects the entire chain, from production to roasting.
• A large part of a coffee's value remains invisible at the time of purchase.
• For a long time, the coffee sector has primarily organized itself around the search for the lowest cost.
• Sailing transport adds a real cost, but it mainly reveals another way of building a coffee's value.
• Paying more does not automatically guarantee a better coffee. However, certain price levels make possible practices that are difficult, if not impossible, to finance with coffee sold at very low prices.

Why Does Coffee Seem So Cheap to Us?

The price of coffee is rarely questioned. We can recognize a coffee that seems “expensive” to us, but it is much more difficult to say what seems to us to be a normal price.

At home, a cup often costs just a few tens of cents. In supermarkets, it is possible to find packets of coffee at very low prices. This habit eventually shapes our perception: we consider coffee as an everyday product that should remain accessible and inexpensive.

However, coffee is one of the most traded agricultural commodities in the world. It is grown in tropical regions, hand-harvested in many countries, prepared for export, transported over thousands of kilometers, roasted, packaged, and then distributed before it reaches our cup.

We readily accept paying around twenty euros for a bottle of wine produced in France, several dozen euros for good olive oil, or a few euros for an artisanal chocolate bar. In contrast, a packet of coffee sold for between 15 and 20€ for 250 grams may seem excessive to some consumers.

This difference in perception is partly due to the fact that coffee has long remained an abundant and relatively inexpensive product in consuming countries. By primarily comparing the prices displayed on the shelves, we have sometimes lost sight of everything they actually cover.

Coffee is, however, a living agricultural product, subject to climatic uncertainties, fluctuations in global markets, and significant logistical costs. Behind a cup lies a value chain that is much longer and more complex than one might imagine.

Understanding the price of coffee therefore does not simply involve comparing two labels. It requires looking at everything that happens before it arrives at the roaster, and then to your cup.

What Does the Price of Coffee Really Include?

The price of coffee does not correspond solely to the cost of roasted beans. It includes all the steps necessary to grow, transport, roast, and distribute the coffee to your cup. In reality, the finished product represents the culmination of a succession of professions, know-how, and decisions that span several months or even years.

It all starts in the producing countries. Before even being exported, coffee must be grown, maintained, harvested, sorted, processed, dried, and then prepared to leave its country of origin. This work involves producers, cooperatives, washing stations, and exporters, each playing a role in the final quality of the coffee.

Next come all the operations related to transport. Transporting the coffee to the ports, organizing its export, getting it across the ocean, ensuring its storage, and then importing it to France represent an essential step in the supply chain. We have dedicated several articles to this often-unknown part, particularly around sailing transport, which illustrates how certain logistical choices can impact the final cost of coffee.

Read our article

Once it arrives at the roaster, the work continues. The coffees are tasted, checked, blended when necessary, and then roasted with precision to reveal their aromatic profile. They are then packaged, stored, and distributed to shops, professionals, or individuals.

In practical terms, the price of coffee helps finance:

• The cultivation, harvesting, and preparation of coffee in the country of origin
• The work of cooperatives, exporters, and importers
• The transport to roasting
• The roasting, quality control, and packaging
• The storage, distribution, and advice to consumers
• The commitments made by roasters, such as the development of sailing transport.

“A large part of the value of our coffee is intangible. If we are not able to convey it, in one way or another, it disappears.”
Matthieu Chaumont, Product & Impact Manager

Did You Know?

A 250 g packet of coffee allows for the preparation of between 20 and 35 cups, depending on the extraction method and dosage used.

In other words, a specialty coffee sold for 18 € for 250 g represents about 0.50 to 0.90 € of coffee per cup.

At the scale of a cup, a few euros difference in the price of a packet ultimately represents just a few extra cents. Yet, these few cents can help finance...

Very Concrete Choices from Field to Cup

To remember: the price of coffee never corresponds solely to the cost of the beans. It compensates the entire chain that connects the producer to the consumer, as well as the choices made at each step to preserve the quality of the coffee and ensure the sustainability of the sector.

Do you want to discover coffees whose sourcing, transport, and roasting choices align with this coherent approach?
Discover the selection of coffees transported by sail from Maison Anne Caron.

Why Are Some Coffees Still Sold at Very Low Prices?

If producing coffee requires so much work, why do we still find packets sold at very low prices? When two packets of coffee are side by side on the shelf, one sold for around ten euros and the other almost twice as much, it is tempting to think that only the margin or transport explains this difference. In reality, this gap results from a succession of choices made at each link.

The answer does not solely lie in quality differences. It is also explained by the historical functioning of the coffee sector, long structured around the search for the lowest cost.

For several decades, the global coffee market has largely been organized around a logic of price competitiveness. To meet an ever-increasing demand and maintain attractive rates, each link in the chain seeks to reduce its costs. This pressure gradually reverberates back to producing countries.

However, behind this economic logic lie much more complex realities: producers facing climatic uncertainties, plantations that must adapt, necessary investments to preserve soils, and constantly evolving logistical costs.

These developments are not merely theoretical. As INSEE points out, global coffee prices have reached historically high levels in recent years, notably due to poor harvests linked to climatic conditions in several major producing countries. This increase serves as a reminder that coffee is primarily an agricultural product, whose price directly depends on the realities on the ground. However, this volatility often remains little perceived by the consumer, who continues to associate coffee with a naturally inexpensive product.

This ongoing search for the lowest price has long led to considering certain expenses as secondary. This is particularly true for transport, which has remained a largely invisible topic in the sector for decades.

The main issue goes far beyond just the question of transport: “We would prefer that producers be compensated at their fair value rather than seeing all volumes shift to sailing.” This conviction summarizes well the approach taken by Maison Anne Caron. Building a more sustainable coffee sector does not consist of acting on a single lever. The remuneration of producers, agricultural practices, sourcing quality, roasting, and transport all contribute, in their own way, to the final price of coffee.

Why Can’t Specialty Coffee Be Compared to Budget Coffee?

We needed to take a small detour on the subject of price and return to the fundamentals. Specialty coffee is coffee evaluated according to strict quality criteria, traceability, and sensory analysis. It differs from commodity coffee, which is produced more to meet a logic of volume and standardization.

When comparing the prices of two coffees, it is tempting to consider them as equivalent products. However, specialty coffee and budget coffee do not meet the same requirements or objectives.

Specialty coffee relies on a rigorous selection of beans, finer traceability, demanding sensory evaluation, and thorough work at each stage, from production to roasting. Volumes are often more limited, coffees are purchased based on precise quality criteria, and relationships with producers occupy a central place.

In contrast, coffee sold at very low prices generally adheres to another logic, where volume, standardization, and cost control take precedence. Comparing only the price of specialty coffee with that of budget coffee is somewhat akin to comparing a bottle from a winemaker's work with an entry-level wine produced on a large scale. Both are wine, but they do not tell the same story and do not mobilize the same resources.

It is precisely for this reason that it is difficult to directly compare specialty coffee with budget coffee solely based on their price.

Does Sailing Transport Really Make Coffee Much More Expensive?

Sailing transport is often perceived as a commitment reserved for very high-end coffees. It is true that this mode of transport currently represents an additional cost compared to conventional maritime freight. For those who make this choice, the extra cost is real and can reach about one euro per kilogram of green coffee.

At the scale of a business, this difference is far from trivial. It implies accepting higher logistical costs to support the development of an emerging sector. However, once this extra cost is related to a cup of coffee, its impact becomes much more limited. It represents only a few cents. This is precisely why a coffee cannot be summarized by its price alone.

This is also one of the strong ideas that runs through all of Maison Anne Caron's commitments. Sailing transport is never presented as a miracle solution or as a sufficient argument to justify the price of a coffee. It constitutes one commitment among others, consistent with a broader vision of the sector.
Discover our Commitments page

This nuance is important. Because when a coffee is sold for a few euros more than another, this difference does not solely compensate for its transport. It also reflects choices that are sometimes invisible but contribute to building its quality, coherence, and, more broadly, its value.

The Real Issue May Not Be Price, But Value

Price tells only part of the story. This story is built throughout its journey, from field to cup. Each step, from cultivation to roasting, then tasting, contributes to shaping a product that is much more than the sum of its ingredients.

This is perhaps what makes the price of coffee sometimes difficult to understand. We compare a number, while we are actually comparing different approaches to the sector.

Within Maison Anne Caron, sailing transport fits precisely into this logic. It is not about considering this mode of transport as an end in itself, but as one of the many choices that contribute to building a more robust sector, alongside the work done with producers, the selection of origins, and the ongoing pursuit of quality.

How to Choose a Coffee If Price Doesn’t Tell Everything?

Before comparing prices, ask yourself a few simple questions:

• Is it a coffee whose aromatic profile matches my tastes?
• Does the roaster clearly explain the origin of the coffee and the choices made throughout the supply chain?
• Does the price seem consistent with what I learn about its production, transport, and roasting?
• Do I want to support this way of producing and marketing coffee?

These questions simply allow you to go beyond the sole price criterion and choose a coffee that aligns with your values.

Understanding Coffee

Want to Go Further?

Understanding coffee also involves tasting. Discovering different origins, chatting with a barista, or learning to recognize aromatic profiles often helps to better grasp everything that lies behind a cup. Discover the tasting workshops at Maison Anne Caron.

And Now, How to Choose?

Understanding the price of coffee does not mean you should systematically buy the most expensive. A quality coffee is primarily one that you enjoy, that matches your preparation method, and whose choices leading to your cup you understand. Price is an indicator among others. It does not guarantee taste or quality, but it can reflect certain commitments. Ultimately, choosing a coffee is less about comparing labels than finding the balance between what you enjoy tasting and what you wish to support.

If you want to put these markers into practice, you can discover the selection of coffees from Maison Anne Caron and identify those whose aromatic profiles best match your expectations.

Discover the Anne Caron Coffee Shop

The 5 Key Ideas to Remember

• The price of coffee does not correspond solely to the cost of the beans.
• Specialty coffee cannot be compared to budget coffee based solely on its price.
• Sailing transport represents a limited part of the final price of a coffee.
• Behind a few euros difference lie choices made from field to cup.
• Choosing a coffee also means choosing a way to produce, roast, and transport.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Are Some Coffees Much Cheaper Than Others?

Price depends on many factors: the quality of selected coffees, production conditions, the work done by producers, transport choices, roasting, or distribution methods. Two coffees can therefore present significant price differences without being explained by a single element.

Why Is Specialty Coffee More Expensive?

Specialty coffee meets higher requirements throughout the production chain. The beans are selected according to precise quality criteria, producers are often supported in a long-term approach, and the roasting work is done to best reveal the characteristics of each coffee. These choices require more time, know-how, and investments. The price therefore reflects not only the quality of the coffee but also all the means mobilized to produce it.

What Is the Fair Price of Coffee?

There is no single price that would allow one to say that a coffee is “fair” or not. However, a price can be consistent with the choices made throughout the supply chain: quality of selected coffees, remuneration of producers, traceability, roasting work, or transport conditions. Rather than seeking an ideal price, it is often more useful to understand what explains the differences between two coffees and the commitments they reflect.

Is More Expensive Coffee Always Better?

No. Taste remains a matter of personal preference. However, a higher price may reflect choices that are not always visible: a more demanding selection of coffees, better remuneration of producers, more precise roasting work, or specific commitments at each stage of the chain.

Does Sailing Transport Significantly Increase the Price of Coffee?

Sailing transport represents a real extra cost for companies that make this choice. However, when related to a cup, it represents only a few cents. It therefore explains a limited part of the final price of a coffee.

Why Has the Price of Coffee Increased in Recent Years?

Coffee is an agricultural raw material particularly sensitive to climatic conditions. Harvests, rising transport costs, tensions in international markets, and increasing production costs all contribute to changes in its price. As INSEE reminds us, global coffee prices have reached historically high levels in recent years, notably due to climatic uncertainties affecting major producing countries. In France, this evolution has translated into a consumer price increase estimated at 12.4% between mid-2023 and May 2025 (Source: INSEE), representing a significant increase but clearly lower than that observed in international markets.

How to Choose a Coffee Without Looking Only at Its Price?

Start by identifying the aromatic profiles you enjoy, then look into the origin of the coffee, the roaster's work, and the information provided about the supply chain. Price then becomes one criterion among others, not the only element of comparison.

Conclusion

Understanding the price of coffee does not just mean knowing how much it costs. It is mainly about understanding what it makes possible. Behind a few euros difference between two packets sometimes lie very concrete choices: a more demanding selection of coffees, fairer remuneration of producers, meticulous roasting work, or transport methods that seek to reduce their impact.

This does not mean that one should systematically buy the most expensive coffee. The best coffee remains primarily the one you enjoy. But knowing what makes up its price allows for a more informed choice and a better understanding of what you support through your purchase.

At Maison Anne Caron, sailing transport fits into this reflection. It is not a standalone answer, but one of the many choices that contribute to building a more robust sector, from field to cup. The next time you compare two packets of coffee, price will likely remain an important criterion. But it may no longer be the only one.