(KRFT) raised the prices of its Maxwell House and Yuban coffee brands last week, following J.M. Smucker Co.The prices on the brands' roast and ground coffee products increased by about 10% on June 6, according to Caroline Krajewski, a spokeswoman for the company. Northfield, Illinois-based Kraft cited gains in the "green-coffee" market for the announced price changes, she wrote in an e-mail today.
The cost of Arabica coffee has surged more than 55% this year as Brazil's worst drought in five decades spurred losses on the country's coffee crop. For the week through June 3, speculative long positions, or bets prices will rise, outnumbered short positions by 40,687 contracts on ICE Futures U.S., formerly known as the New York Board of Trade, according to data from the Washington-based Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Smucker, the maker of the best-selling U.S. coffee brand Folgers, said June 3 that it increased coffee prices by an average of 9% after bean costs rose.
Prices of all instant coffees, Maxwell House Filter Packs and Filter Pack Singles, Maxwell House International, all single-serve pods, Gevalia ground and whole bean coffees and Tassimo products were not affected, Krajewski wrote.
