Denver coffee enthusiasts could soon face higher prices at shops as the effects of import tariffs imposed by the Trump administration are making their way to local roasters.
“All of us are dealing with a level of uncertainty that is unprecedented. I’ve never experienced anything like this,” said Mark Overly, president and coffee buyer for Kaladi Coffee Roasters in Denver.
“If I was (a) more institutional coffee roaster and I’m buying coffee that’s gonna be used in restaurants and that kind of thing, which is gonna be a blend, that coffee price would normally be $2 to $2.50, it’s now $4 to $5.”
Overly said a typical specialty coffee once cost between $3.50 and $5 per pound. Now, they are seeing prices go up to $7 or $8 per pound for green coffee, even before it’s roasted. Roasters typically lose around 20% of that weight during the roasting process.
“And then, of course, you have all the packaging and labor and that kind of thing that goes on top of it. So now we’re seeing this significant amount of increase,” he said.
Overly, who has over three decades of experience in the coffee trade industry, said many local coffee roasters like Kaladi are facing uncertainty over future price increases and supply chain disruptions as a result of the effects of global warming on coffee-growing regions and the recent on-again, off-again tariffs.
The administration’s sweeping tariffs on countries like China, Mexico, Colombia, Canada and many others have led to significant disruptions in imported goods, resulting in increased consumer prices and strained relations with key trading partners.
However, while President Donald Trump paused import taxes for other countries, he raised tariffs on Chinese imports to a staggering 145%. Countries subject to the pause will now be tariffed at 10% until July.
China has denounced the policy as “economic bullying” and promised countermeasures, such as raising tariffs on U.S. goods from 84% to 125%.
“Our first big hit on tariffs was actually the printing of our bags,” said Jason Farrar, co-owner and Chief Revenue Officer of Huckleberry Roasters, who is also closely tracking the current state of the coffee industry and preparing for possible tariff effects.
“There’s a manufacturer in China that we use, and that, like, doubled our retail bag price, which is kind of crazy.”
For years, Farrar said Huckleberry has been managing long-term relationships with suppliers in regions such as Brazil, Guatemala, Peru, Kenya, Ethiopia and beyond. He said they purchase their raw coffee beans seasonally, as the quality and availability of coffee vary depending on how close the farms they work with are to the equator.
Farrar said the tariffs are a day-by-day conversation with internal staff and the importers that they contract to bring coffee over. In addition, Huck works with around 150 cafes, restaurants, markets and businesses that serve coffee, as part of their wholesale partnerships.
“It’s a bummer,” said Farrar, who is anticipating a substantial increase in the cost of goods.
“It sort of feels like this tidal wave that’s unavoidable, and so we’re like, ‘how do we manage this well without sort of alienating customers?’”
‘A coffee crunch’
Kaladi fires up their roaster daily at their Englewood cafe, ensuring a constant supply of fresh beans.
Every six weeks, Overly said they bring in new coffee to maintain peak quality and consistency. Espresso blends dominate their production, making up 60% of the total roasting volume, with the rest focused on varietal coffees.
“We only have about 30 hours worth of coffee and roasted inventory at any time,” Overly said, who sources beans from suppliers in a dozen different locations such as Peru, Indonesia, Mexico, Colombia and Nicaragua.
However, the coffee industry has been facing a series of challenges in recent months because of the effects of climate change.
“What’s gone largely unnoticed is that we are in a coffee crunch. Currently, coffee prices have doubled in the last year,” Overly said.
“Many years now, we have been consuming more coffee than what’s been produced — with climate change, there’s been disruptions in production, coffee coming late — then Brazil this year was looking at a short, low crop.”
Brazil and Vietnam are among the top 10 coffee producers in the world, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. However, both countries have been experiencing extreme heat and droughts, which are affecting their crops, leading to potential supply shortages and pushing global coffee prices higher.
Increased uncertainty because of the recently announced reciprocal tariffs by the U.S. may also feed into weakening the demand of coffee due to the possibility of a higher retail price of coffee, according to a March 2025 Coffee Market Report by The International Coffee Organization, a London-based intergovernmental organization for the global coffee sector.
The organization’s ICO Composite Indicator Price (I-CIP), one of the world’s key reference prices for coffee, was 355.00 cents or around $3.55 per pound on May 6, an 80% increase compared to the same day and month last year.
The I-CIP averaged 335.76 cents per pound in April 2025, up from 216.89 cents the same month last year.
“The problem with tariffs is that these tariffs are all now on these double prices,” Overly said.
Half of Kaladi’s revenue comes from bean sales, as they have become known as a reliable source for coffee beans. However, at this moment, Kaladi will not have any coffee coming in from Mexico as their exporter was in the process of negotiating with their importer as tariff percentages were fluctuating.
“Nobody knew what was going on — so they ended up at a stalemate. They didn’t contract,” he said.
“This is a producer group that I’ve worked with for a number of years, and we’re unable to get the coffee. So that’s one of the ways that it’s affecting us.”
Despite these challenges, Kaladi and Huckleberry aim to weather the storm by maintaining transparency with customers and suppliers, prioritizing employee well-being and keeping clients informed of any changes.
“We’re sort of navigating it as it comes and making adjustments as we have to. Our goal is to just be as transparent as we can with the prices,” Farrar said.
While tariffs and global warming create uncertainty in the coffee trade industry, Overly said coffee prices will most likely return to more affordable levels.
“We think that the prices of coffee are going to ultimately come down by the end of the year. So many of us are trying to hold off on raising our prices too much,” Overly said.
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