US Coffee Shops Brew Up Concerns Over Rising Costs Amid New Tariffs

Small coffee shops and bakeries across the United States are feeling the heat as newly implemented tariffs drive up the cost of imported coffee beans, threatening to change America's $100 billion-a-year coffee culture.

Jorge Prudencio, owner of Bread Bite Bakery in Washington DC, says his supplier in Colombia has already increased prices in response to the 10% tariff imposed on imports from most countries since 5 April. With Colombian beans forming a core part of his offerings, Prudencio says another price hike is expected soon-and it's forcing him to raise prices for customers just to stay afloat.

The United States is the world's second-largest importer of coffee, with the majority of its supply coming from Brazil and Colombia. As tariffs take effect, café owners say they're already seeing fewer customers lining up for their morning brew. Many patrons are switching to smaller, plainer coffee options or choosing to make coffee at home.

Kamal Mortada, who manages Au Lait café just down the street, said the impact has been building for some time. "We have less customers for coffee," he said, noting that prices on their menu have gone up by 25%. Inflation, which reached a 40-year high under former President Joe Biden, has pushed ground coffee prices to a historic peak as of March 2025 over a dollar more than the previous year, and nearly $3 more than in 2020.

On the West Coast, Telescope Coffee in San Francisco faces similar struggles. Owner Jenny Ngo said she's waiting to hear from her coffee roaster about price increases for beans sourced from Ethiopia and Guatemala-both affected by the tariffs. Additionally, her business imports iced coffee cups from China, where prices have already spiked.

"We unfortunately project to raise prices again in order to sustain our business," Ngo said.

While the heart of the issue is coffee, it's not the only product impacted. Prudencio said the cost of eggs, vital for his bakery, has also soared-doubling from $42 to over $100 per case in a matter of weeks. The rise in egg prices, a politically charged symbol of economic health, has prompted criticism from former President Donald Trump, who blamed the Biden administration's handling of a bird flu outbreak for the inflation.

In March, eggs hit a record high of $6.22 per dozen, according to the Consumer Price Index.

Joel Finkelstein, owner of Qualia Coffee Roasters in DC, sells primarily through farmers' markets and online. For him, the tariffs are the latest in a series of economic challenges. "We're going to see a decrease in sales," he said. He noted that tariffs and funding cuts to USAID under Trump previously impacted South American coffee growers and drove prices up this new wave is likely to make things worse.

As tariffs continue to reshape the cost of basic goods, small business owners are left balancing rising supply costs with the need to retain customers in a price-sensitive economy.

"Everybody is going through the same thing," Prudencio said. "We all pay the price."