Coffee Prices

bigbird

Gold
May 1, 2005
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What has happened to coffee prices. I don't keep track of prices but I surely don't remember paying 159 pesos for a 1 lb. bag of Santo Domingo Cafe.
 

Matilda

RIP Lindsay
Sep 13, 2006
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Coffee prices have gone crazy. 2 years ago, when I had a colmado I would buy 1lb bags of Santo Domingo coffee for 61 RD$ direct from Induban. A month ago I was paying 125 pesos from the local colmado and yesterday was 140 pesos. Someone told me it was 145 in Janet's in Cabarete. I cannot think of any good reason for a doubling at least of the price in 2 years.

Matilda
 

bigbird

Gold
May 1, 2005
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Coffee prices have gone crazy. 2 years ago, when I had a colmado I would buy 1lb bags of Santo Domingo coffee for 61 RD$ direct from Induban. A month ago I was paying 125 pesos from the local colmado and yesterday was 140 pesos. Someone told me it was 145 in Janet's in Cabarete. I cannot think of any good reason for a doubling at least of the price in 2 years.

Matilda

The sticker price on the shelf in CarreFour (Santo Domingo) today was $RD159.95 and I could not believe it.
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
40,964
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The price of coffee is going to go much, much higher. Next years crop is going to be much smaller because of the rain, and many large buyers are buying entire growers production in advance at outrageous prices.
 

Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
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CB beat me to this.. Two out of the last three years have seen smaller than normal crops. Exporters can't satisfy the demand. Guys like Ramirez and Perell? are crying all the way to the bank!!!

HB
 

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
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These high prices aren't that new, we paid 150 pesos a pound at Nacional in February for Cafe Santo Domingo beans. A DR1 friend sent us 6 bags of Monte Alto with a relative a couple of months ago [thanks again!]. Two days ago I stumbled across 2.5 pound bags of Starbucks French Roast Coffee Beans at Marshalls for $14.99 and bought one to try - not bad! Not as smooth as Dominican beans, but better than anything else we've tried here. Guess I'm going back to buy more in case coffee goes as nuts as you are all predicting!

AE
 

bob saunders

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
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We bought 12 lbs of Cafe Santo Domingo for 124 pesos at la Serina in early October and I bought 8 lbs of Monte Alto in Jarabacoa, also for 124, and my own favourite Monte Real for 133 pesos.
 

granca

Bronze
Aug 20, 2007
1,418
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Two days ago I bought half pound of Santo Domingo ground coffee at Casa Rodriguez, a local tienda at 65pesos, the same day I noted that at Lindo supermarket it was priced at 75 pesos, mind you the local tienda sells big eggs at 3 pesos each, small ones at Lindo are 4.5 pesos!! Is this world price increases or profiteering?
I've started buying more and more at the local tiendas rather than the big supermarkets and consistently found then cheaper. I'm annoyed at my self for not finding this out before only now after 5 years of living here. Conditioning I suppose because back in the UK , Lidl or Tesco were always cheaper than the small shops.
 
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cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
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The futures price of Dominican green beans (beand before roastion) is currently almost $2.90 a pound. That is not roast coffee in a bag in the store. That is the price processors and exporters growers are buying 100lb. bags of gourmet and premium unroasted green beans from growers.

FOR NEXT YEARS CROP!
 

pi2

Banned
Oct 12, 2011
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On many items small stores etc. are 2/3 of the price or less than supermarkets.
Especially items purchased in small bulk - e.g. 10lb of rice.
Plus you can't be sure of supermarket quality much of the time.
Supermarkets are for mugs!
Yesterday I bought a very large mango about 2 lbs for 25 pesos. Supermarket cost would have
been at least double for equivalent.
Spagetti is 25 pesos a lb at small store - 44 pesos supermaret.
2 litre coke 38 pesos small store 65 pesos supermarket.
Bottle of table wine 125 small store - 200 many supermarkets.
Coffee is expensive now - I paid 15o for a lb.
but still 4 dollars a pound.
The cheapest 'value' coffee in the UK is the equivalent of 5.40 dollars a lb but quality coffees are
far more.

pi2
 

Bob K

Silver
Aug 16, 2004
2,520
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I buy Induban dark roast en grano off the delivery truck in town. Last year I was paying 90 pesos a pound. Last week 160 a pound. Still gotta have my coffee in the morning. Regular Santo Domingo was 140.

Bob K
 

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
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I buy Induban dark roast en grano off the delivery truck in town. Last year I was paying 90 pesos a pound. Last week 160 a pound. Still gotta have my coffee in the morning. Regular Santo Domingo was 140.

Bob K

I can't tell you how many coffee trucks we stopped along the southern coast over a two month period. Not one of them had beans, only ground. They said no one buys it. None in any of the supermarkets had it either [just Cafe Santo Domingo en Grano]. Induban is richer than Cafe Santo Domingo, and we always grab what we can, but last trip we couldn't get even one bag.

We were in Jarabacoa the first weekend of our trip, and kicked ourselves the next two months because we didn't buy the Monte Alto en Grano when we saw it there. We didn't realize how hard it would be to find in the capital.

AE
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
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i do not want to sound like a rotten rico but i have never looked at coffee prices. i need coffee? i buy it. and i buy so many things along with it that this individual price drowns in the final bill.
we are definitely paying a lot more for our shopping, this i can tell. probably twice as much as we did when i came here 5 years ago. but coffee as such? i did not know :(
 

greydread

Platinum
Jan 3, 2007
17,477
488
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What I'd like to know is why 'Richfood" associated grocery chains in the US have Santo Domingo coffee at $3.49/ lb. which is roughly the same price I pay for it in the D.R. grocery stores? Granted, I don't travel for the coffee and I'm not complaining that it's the same price a block away in VA but I can't understand, if this commodity is in such short supply at home how it can be so plantiful and inexpensive abroad?
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
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What I'd like to know is why 'Richfood" associated grocery chains in the US have Santo Domingo coffee at $3.49/ lb. which is roughly the same price I pay for it in the D.R. grocery stores? Granted, I don't travel for the coffee and I'm not complaining that it's the same price a block away in VA but I can't understand, if this commodity is in such short supply at home how it can be so plantiful and inexpensive abroad?
I doubt it's a pound like in the DR. Most likely 10oz.

Coffee is in short supply everywhere. Additionally, the coffee from the DR that is exported is more expensive than that kept in the DR. The best coffee is exported at a price $40-$70 per 100lbs. more, 15+ screen (size measurement.) The lower grade coffee is what is mainly consumed in the local market with a couple of exceptions.

All coffee is not the same.
 

greydread

Platinum
Jan 3, 2007
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488
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I doubt it's a pound like in the DR. Most likely 10oz.

Nope. I used to bring back a pound of Santo Domingo until I saw the exact same (1lb.) bag with the exact same packaging in a local market where many international brands are sold and after a little skeptical inspection and careful side-by-side/ cup-by-cup comparison I found this to be the exact same product. Now I buy it closer to home for the same price.
 

bigbird

Gold
May 1, 2005
7,375
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........I can't tell you how many coffee trucks we stopped along the southern coast over a two month period. Not one of them had beans, only ground.............
AE

Same here, although I did find a few bags of Santo Domingo en grano in Ole but they are charging 30 extra pesos for the beans. As far as I can remember that was never the case. Beans and ground were always the same price.

................i do not want to sound like a rotten rico but i have never looked at coffee prices. i need coffee? i buy it.........

Actually neither have I, but I do remember when I first starting coming to the DR I would stock up on cafe because it was great tasting and so much cheaper than in the states.

La Cafetera Colonial has a posted sign "Induban Molida $RD190 per lb." I never ever remember seeing a posted price. People just came in and bought a pound of coffee never questioning the price because it was so cheap. Last month a cup of cafe con leche was 40 pesos, this month the price has risen to 50 pesos.
 

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
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Same here, although I did find a few bags of Santo Domingo en grano in Ole but they are charging 30 extra pesos for the beans. As far as I can remember that was never the case. Beans and ground were always the same price.

Actually neither have I, but I do remember when I first starting coming to the DR I would stock up on cafe because it was great tasting and so much cheaper than in the states.

bigbird, I agree, I've recently noticed they are charging more for the beans. You would think they'd be cheaper, they require less handling. My suegra swears it's because they mix in ground dried guandules with the ground, [everyone in the family just rolls their eyes at her] and they have no way to "stretch" the beans. :paranoid::paranoid:

dv8, the only reason I notice the coffee prices is because we're usually buying 25 pounds or more at a time, when we're leaving to fly home. Otherwise I'd probably be just like you.

AE