The first Gregory’s Coffee opened in 2006 on Manhattan’s Park Avenue. Nineteen years later, the family-owned business has expanded to over 54 locations around the U.S. as well as a roastery in Queens, New York, that handles coffee beans from Brazil, Rwanda, Nicaragua and other major global producers.
For Gregory Zamfotis, founder of the New York City-based chain, the business is about more than just dollars and cents — it’s also about recognizing the special place coffee has long had in American culture as a driver of social connections.
“Coffee is built into the fabric of our society,” Zamfotis told CBS News. “People come together over coffee. When it’s a meeting or interview, or we just want to get some work done, coffee tends to be the centerpiece of those conversations.”
With many Americans still feeling the effects of elevated inflation, for many coffee drinkers one of those conversations is likely to center on the drink’s soaring costs.
Prices have leaped nearly 21% over the past 12 months, with the average retail price of 100% ground roast coffee recently reaching a record high of $8.87 per pound, up from $7.02 in January USDA data shows.
Several factors are behind the spike in coffee prices, including droughts in Brazil and volatile weather in other regions where the bean is cultivated. More recently, heavy U.S. tariffs on coffee-producing countries — including a hefty 50% levy on Brazil — have also driven up prices.
Though coffee is a staple of American daily life, the vast majority of the beans is imported. Much of that is sourced from Latin America, with Brazil alone accounting for 35%, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
By contrast, the U.S. produces relatively little coffee compared to the rest of the world. Hawaii, the top-producing state, harvested 21 million pounds during the 2024–25 season, according to the USDA. Yet Americans consumed a whopping 3.3 billion pounds of coffee during the same period, the agency said.
“Prices are going to have to go up”
Jake Leonti, director of coffee at Gregory’s Coffee, said it’s also far pricier to grow and produce coffee in the U.S.
“It’s exponentially [more] expensive because it’s Americans farming,” he said. “Whereas we can get super high-quality coffee from different parts of the world at a price that’s much more friendly to the consumer.”
Gregory’s Coffee has not raised prices yet despite the jump in costs. But Leonti said that could change soon.
“Prices are going to have to go up — there’s no other way around it,” he said. “We’re seeing tariffs from the places where we get our bags printed as well. So everything around the coffee business is getting tariffs at some point.”
Like other retailers, Gregory’s prices vary depending on where a store is located, reflecting regional labor and other costs. In New York City, the chain charges $3.45 for a regular cup of coffee, while at its New Jersey and Washington, D.C., outlets the same item runs $3.15.
Other retailers are also preparing for increased coffee costs. Mark Smucker, CEO of The J.M. Smucker Co., whose portfolio includes the Folgers Coffee, Café Bustelo and Dunkin’ at-home brands, said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call in June that prices will likely increase for a third time this year “due to higher green coffee costs.”
Meanwhile, Starbucks Chief Financial Officer Catherine R. Smith said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call in July that, due to the company’s coffee buying and hedging practices, customers shouldn’t expect price increases until the first half of fiscal 2026.
At Gregory’s Coffee, “The last thing we want to do is just keep raising prices on our guests,” Zamfotis said. “We’re hoping that if prices go up a few pennies across the board, that doesn’t turn off our everyday customers. We’re not doing this to make more money — we’re doing this to protect our business.”
How fast are prices rising?
