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Plunging Coffee Bean Prices Could Drive Grower Cutbacks in 2019

  • Major moves by Coca-Cola, Nestle in 2018 expanded the industry
  • Farmers suffered as prices fell 20% in New York this year
Coffee Processing Plant

Photographer: Jeff Holt/Bloomberg

Updated on

It’s been a big year for the companies that sell coffee, but not so much for the growers that supply them. That could start to change in 2019.

Historically low prices for coffee beans in 2018 will likely reduce the incentive for farmers to expand supplies, said Rodrigo Costa, the U.S.-based coffee director for Brazilian trading company Comexim. That could mean a price spurt ahead, analysts say, as major moves within the industry promise to boost consumption worldwide.