All frothed up about coffee

Coffee drinkers in the Capes region may find themselves paying more for their caffeine fix than their city counterparts, with coffee prices in the region above the Perth average.

The Gilkatho Cappuccino Price Index, released last week for the March 2011 quarter, revealed the average price of a takeaway coffee in Perth was $3.72.

An informal survey by the Times of cafés in the Busselton shire revealed coffee drinkers were paying on average $4.18 for their regular take away coffees, 46c above the Perth average and 78c above the national average of $3.30.

Dunsborough’s Meal Up café charges patrons $3.80 for a regular takeaway, and according to owner Nicolette Lane higher prices could be attributed to high labour costs.

“With the boom in the mining sector, we are finding it very hard to find staff willing to work for less then a certain amount,” she told the Times.

“I recently had a barista working here from Sydney who couldn’t believe how much higher wages are in WA.”

The Times’ survey also revealed residents in Dunsborough were paying less for their takeaways at an average of $4.03 compared to the Busselton average of $4.33.

Results from the price index has shown a 20 per cent increase in the price of a cup of coffee in the past decade.

“There are a number of dynamics gathering momentum internationally which will see both a decreased supply and increase demand for coffee leading to higher prices in 2011,” Gilkatho managing director Wayne Fowler said.

Environmental impacts on crops have seen a reduction in yields in Panama, Guatemala and Costa Recia, Mr Fowler said, and increasing domestic consumption in Brazil and China has contributed to global supply shortages.

Increases in coffee prices inevitably get passed on to cafés, including Pantry on Prince which has increased the price of a regular coffee by 30c in two-and-a-half years.

“Coffee bean prices have gone up again recently, and I now pay $2 more (for a kilo of coffee beans) than I did when I first opened,” owner Greg Whitehair said.

“I’m running a very tight ship at the moment.”

Mrs Lane said while she would be reluctant to put up prices because of the smaller population, she could not rule this out due to increasing costs.

“There are big margins when you are producing bigger volumes, but we are producing smaller amounts of coffee daily and it would be hard not to pass on the price,” she said.