Over the past 12 years, robusta beans prices have reached an all-time high, Bloomberg reported. The variety is used in instant coffee, espressos, and ground blends.
The rise came due to increased demand for cheaper coffee brews. According to Judith Ganes who runs a consulting firm in the United States, “there’s been so much of a demand shift away from higher-priced coffee that even the market isn’t even being satisfied by higher robusta exports.”
Over the first five months of 2023, exports of robusta beans have exceeded those for the previous three years. A buoyant robusta demand has been confirmed by the Brazilian Instant Coffee Industry Association, Nestle SA, and Tata Coffee.
In earlier bad harvest years, instant coffee used to be in high demand. Vietnam, the world’s largest robusta exporter, has collected the smallest harvest in four years. Brazil, the second-biggest producer of this variety, has seen its harvest suffer from drought.