What Makes Coffee Drinkers Jumpy?

With tight coffee supplies worldwide, the list prices on two major coffee brands -- Kraft Inc.'s Maxwell House and Procter & Gamble Co.'s Folgers -- increased this week. Sara Lee Corp. may follow suit with its leading brand, Chock Full o' Nuts.

Inventories of coffee are smaller than they've been in 15 years, Judith Ganes-Chase, president of J. Ganes Consulting of New York, told Bloomberg. She predicted that global coffee production may fall to between 105 and 107 million bags in the 2005-2006 season, from as much as 120 million bags in 2004-2005.

Growers, of course, are glad to see the higher prices, because the coffee market had hit historic low prices only two and a half years ago.

''The coffee industry is concerned about the entire supply chain and the well-being of everyone in the producing world,'' Joseph DeRupo of the National Coffee Association told the Miami Herald.

Local roasters who take the green beans and turn them into what consumers recognize have already seen their costs per pound go up 60 percent since September, from 75 cents then to more than $1.20 now.

''Up, up, up, to the skies,'' Rafael Acevedo, president of Colonial Coffee Roasters in Miami, told the Herald. He raised prices to his commercial customers in mid-January and is considering doing so again soon.

The price issue began brewing last year. The price of coffee futures -- financial instruments traded on a market for future delivery of commodities -- jumped 60 percent, more than crude oil.

The reason: tight supplies worldwide. Demand was growing, from Starbucks Corp. and other buyers. At the same time, crops were beginning to shrink in Brazil, Vietnam and Indonesia. Together, those countries account for 48 percent of global coffee-bean exports, Bloomberg News reported.

Maxwell House raised its list price by 28 cents, or 12 percent, to $2.57 per 13-ounce can, while Folgers raised its list ground price by 28 cents, or 12 percent, to $2.56 per 11.5- to 13-ounce can.