Starbucks Corp. warned analysts that its profits for the year will come in below expectations because the price of coffee has become the latest foodstuff swept up in a wave of runaway inflation.
The benchmark arabica bean contract on the ICE futures exchange hit a 13-year high on Wednesday. It is up by more than 80 per cent since June 2010.
The company has thus far swallowed those costs and will avoid price increases to consumers, in order to maintain market share, the company said in releasing its quarterly results Thursday, but it did not rule out price increases on some items in some markets moving forward.