Price of coffee is increasing

After the pandemic hit us I have noticed a slight change in the local coffee scene here in Iceland. Most coffee shops have survived and most are open for business within the local Covid-19 limitations, but the price of coffee has gone up. It has become more and more expensive to frequent my favorite places to enjoy my brew and good company. In most cases the company is myself and my better half, since everyone is in their own small bubble of friends and family. But the price is heading the same way as the beer prices a few years ago. A relatively steep increase over a period of few years. Once beer was 800 kr, but now a few years later it has gone up to 1200 kr to 1500 kr per pint. Coffee seems to be heading this way, and a trip to a coffee shop for two, for a Latte and Americano plus maybe a scone or one small slice of cake is reaching 2500 kr to 3000 kr. This is close to 25 usd or 20 euros.
We the locals are slowly being priced out of the market. For me it is a no brainer to buy an expensive home machine like Rancilio Silvia, Sage Barista or similar home expresso machines. The pandemic has made me use my home machine a lot more and I don’t go out as much for obvious reasons. It is a double edged sword to increase prices in times like these. Places have to survive and a decrease in business due to the prolonged Pandemic have in many ways forced them to increase prices plus the fact that the price of coffee wholesale on a global scale has gone up as well. But the negative side is that the more the prices go up the more we the local people stay home instead of going out when things begin to open up due to the increase in vaccinations and our control over the spread of Covid-19. This is not a good turn of events since the pay structure in Iceland has not risen to the extent of local increase in the cost of food and coffee. In short, everything is getting more and more expensive. In the past few years the influx of tourists have made up for this for the local business, but as the situation is now, that is not the case in the months ahead. It will take some time before we get society and travel up and running as it was before the pandemic.
This opens up the opportunity to experiment and try new things in the art of homemade coffee brewing.