Why are coffee prices going up, and will a flat white really cost $10 or more as a result?

At a basic level, the price increase for coffee is about demand outstripping supply as consumption has grown globally over past decades. Photograph: chayathonwong/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Will your daily cup of coffee get more expensive in 2025? One industry figure recently predicted the cost of a single cup could rocket to $10-$12 in the next year – and some kind of rise is likely, experts say, after the wholesale price of beans hit a record high in December, with prices showing no indication of dipping any time soon.

So what’s behind the spike? And will a cup of coffee really go up by that much?