Coffee consumers in Puerto Rico could pay more after the Department of Consumer Affairs (DACO) approved an increase in the base prices at which coffee is bought from local farmers and from the international market. In an interview with Primera Hora, Agriculture Secretary Irving Rodríguez Torres acknowledged the expected impact is about 20%, the average increase approved to the base price.
"If it were passed on to the entire consumer, then it would be 20 percent of what it costs on the shelf," he said. DACO issued Order number 2026-007, which revised the minimum price structure for buying coffee. The increase was set following recommendations from the Coffee Evaluation Committee and input from the Department of Agriculture.
After 15 years without a revision, the price at which processors (beneficiadores) and roasters buy coffee from Puerto Rican farmers rises from $18 to $22 per almud, a Spanish measure equal to 28 pounds. The semi-roasted imported coffee that Agriculture buys and sells to roasters through the Agricultural Enterprises Development Administration (ADEA) also rises, to $450 per quintal for Arabica and $307.20 for Robusta.
The increases take effect November 13. Rodríguez Torres said the consumer impact can be calculated by multiplying the current price by 0.20. Defending Agriculture’s role as intermediary in international coffee purchases, he said the alternative is that anyone in Puerto Rico can import coffee, but Agriculture does not pay the additional $200 per quintal tariff.