Why Are Coffee Prices on the Rise?

We talk about high gasoline prices pretty regularly, but how about the cost for that cup of joe? Plantation Coffee owner Stan Schikowitz says there are a number of reasons coffee prices keep going up. Increased rain leading to decreased crops in Colombia -- and an improving economy leading to higher labor costs in Brazil are a couple of those. He also says that as emerging markets become more affluent, people can afford to drink coffee...and they're drinking more world-wide. That contributes to a drain on the coffee supply. He says coffee prices are at a 30-year high, and he expects that trend to continue for the next several years. But he says even if the average pound of coffee goes up two dollars, that translates to only about five cents a cup...so it's still relatively cheap.