Ahead of this afternoon’s Carabao Cup final at Wembley, a large number of enthusiastic Newcastle United supporters have made their way to London. The excitement among the fans is palpable as they gather in anticipation of the big game.
The capital has been overtaken by Geordies donning black and white stripes, all in anticipation of their team winning their first significant trophy in 54 years.
“Afterward, they congregated at Trafalgar Square to commence an all-night celebration before today’s match versus Manchester United”
Frosts in Brazil have impacted supply.(Supplied: Melbourne Coffee Merchants)
The pain will be felt from the cities to the outback, but Mr Parnham said the increase was well overdue, with the average $4 price for a standard latte, cappuccino and flat white remaining stable for years.
“The reality is it should be $6-7. It’s just that cafés are holding back on passing that pricing on per cup to the consumer,” he said.
But roaster Raoul Hauri said it hadn’t made a dent in sales, with more than 300 customers still coming through the doors for their daily fix. “No one really batted an eyelid,” he said. “We thought we would get more pushback, but I think at the moment people understand.
“It is overdue and unfortunately it can’t be sustained, and at some point the consumer has to bear that.”
Paving the way for Australian producers
While coffee drinkers will be feeling the pinch, Australian producers like Candy MacLaughlin from Skybury Roasters hopes the increasing cost of imports will pave the way for growth in the local industry, allowing it to compete in the market.
“[In the ] overall cost of business, we haven’t been able to drop our prices to be competitive, so we’ve really worked on that niche base,” Ms MacLaughlin said.
“All those things will help us to grow our coffee plantation once more.”
Candy and her husband Marion produce 40 tonnes of coffee annually but they are prepared to scale up operations(Supplied)
She said the industry could eventually emulate the gin industry, with boutique operations cropping up across the country.
“I think the demand for Australian coffee at the moment is an ever-changing landscape and more and more Aussies are starting to question where their food comes from, who is growing it”
“What you will get is all these kinds of niche coffee plantations who develop a very unique flavour profile and then market in funky packaging and appeal to certain markets,” she said.
“That’s where I see the next stage of the Australian coffee industry going.”