BH citizens constantly struggle with price increases. One of the foods that was not bypassed by the wave of price increases is coffee. The world coffee market is unstable, so the price of raw coffee in Bosnia and Herzegovina has increased by ten percent since the beginning of the year. Has this had an effect on reducing consumption?
The price of a kilogram of ground coffee in retail has increased from 16 to 18 marks in a year, according to data from the Statistical Office of the Republika Srpska. Although the price has risen, imports have only slightly decreased.
Statistics show how much the price of coffee has risen most vividly. In 2021, we imported 22,000 tons of coffee at a price of 97 million marks, and only a year later we paid 142 million marks for a smaller quantity of 19,500 tons.
“When you buy and put something in the basket and pay, only then do you see the difference between what you could have bought half a year ago, let alone a year, for the same amount of money,” says Jovan Vasilić, president of the Zvono Bijeljina Consumers Association.
For citizens, this is another in a series of blows to their already thin pockets. However, they admit that it will be difficult to give up coffee, even if the price increases further.
On the other hand, traders point out that domestic suppliers have enough stocks.
“Our strongest supplier, let me not advertise him, did not raise prices, so neither did we. The suppliers, those big wholesalers have stock, they don’t have to raise prices”, says the owner of the market chain, Milan Simić.
Consumer associations point out that the increase in the price of raw coffee will lead to other price increases.
“Logically, the increase in the price of coffee in shops and roasteries, where people usually get their supplies, will lead to an increase in prices in catering establishments, that is something that will be another burden in the future,” Vasilić stated.
During the last year, the most coffee in BiH arrived from Brazil, followed by India, Italy, Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates, and Guinea.
