The morning cup of coffee in Jordan is no longer just a popular ritual that people open their day or express the warmth of meetings, but rather recently turned into a daily indicator that reflects the worsening living crisis.
With some major coffee companies’ announcement of raising the price of one kilo, an increase of more than two dinars (about 3 dollars), talking about coffee exceeded the taste and smell, to a complaint of the high cost of the rapid fire that affected the “cup of mood”.
Coffee with high levels of
The declaration of raising prices was a shock to many Jordanians who consider coffee as a fixed element in their day, “If coffee has no safety, what is the remains?” (What is left?
This height comes in light of a pressure economic context, which is the high cost of living, the stability of wages, and the expansion of the circle of poverty, which made even the materials that are considered from the popular routine supplies – such as coffee – and the basics of the house are part of the account equation and the search for alternatives.
Why did coffee prices rise?
Economist Hossam Ayesh tells Al -Jazeera Net that the high prices of coffee globally were reflected directly on the Jordanian market, especially since the coffee is the second most trading commodity after oil, and this rise is due to the decline in crops in the main productive countries such as Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia and Honduras, due to drought or heavy rains, which led to a decrease in supply and the increase in prices globally.
Ayesh notes that the prices in Jordan increased by between 40 and 90% depending on the type of coffee, but the most prominent problem is that the chaos of pricing that allowed sellers to raise the prices of popular and medium -quality coffee with such percentages, without real justification, which made the Jordanian consumer a victim of an unfair rise in prices, although it does not necessarily consume the luxurious types that witnessed the global rise.
Aisha’s government demands urgent intervention to classify the types of coffee offered in the market, determine their real prices, and obligate traders to disclose the type of coffee they sell and quality, so that the consumer is familiar with what he buys and ensures that what drives him is commensurate with the actual value of the product.
It warns that the continuation of this situation will affect the balance of the Jordanian family spending, especially since coffee is a basic drink related to the general mood.
Ayesh adds that official indicators do not reflect this real effect due to traditional measurement mechanisms, stressing that the “coffee index” has become a honest mirror of the popular mood, and today it is not at its best.
“A defect has not happened for 50 years”
The administrative partner of the company “Bin Al -Amaid”, Basil Al -Daher, says that coffee is an agricultural product directly affected by climate factors, as well as its association with the prices of the global stock exchange.
He adds in his interview with Al -Jazeera Net: “What happened this year has not been witnessed for 50 years, which is the duration of the company’s work in this sector. Brazil – the world’s largest coffee producer – witnessed an unprecedented scarcity of rain, which led to a significant decline in the size of the crop compared to previous years.”
Al -Daher continues: “Coffee is a commodity subject to the rule of supply and demand, and this imbalance between the available and the demand is to raise prices globally by about 80%, and the prices of cardamom also increased, which led to a significant increase in the cost of production.”
Al -Daher asserts that each company has its own strategy, explaining that “companies that want to maintain the quality of their products are forced, unlike these increases in the final price of the consumer, as it is not possible to sacrifice quality to avoid high price.”
Regarding the popular boycott campaigns, Al -Daher explains that raising prices was not aimed at achieving additional profits, but rather in response to the global market conditions, expressing his hope that prices would decline globally, so that this is reflected again on the reduction of prices locally.
The pioneering company, “Bin Al -Amaid”, announced in a statement, which was raised by the price of one kilo from 12.60 dinars (17.7 dollars) to 14.80 dinars (20.9 dollars).
Alternative options
In front of these prices, consumers began to search for less expensive alternatives, and Adel Mohamed, a store owner for the sale of ration materials, says that the demand for coffee with cheaper origin has increased significantly, at the expense of the most quality and price coffee.
While some consumers resorted to mixing multiple types of coffee to reduce the cost, or reduce the amount used in each cup, and communication platforms witnessed calls to boycott well -known brands and be satisfied with what the neighborhood’s quotes provide at lower prices.
As for the owners of cafes and shops, they found themselves between two fires: keeping customers, or covering costs, some chose to raise the price of a cup of coffee while other stores reduced the size of the cup.
Does the cup of coffee become an “economic index”?
In a country like Jordan, where citizens do not have deep economic analysis tools, coffee turned into something similar to the “popular index” in which the market and people are measured. When the conversations begin in the popular councils about the price of a cup of coffee, which reached 75 piasters (one dollar) the crisis has reached social depth.
Between the scent of hot coffee and the voice of the pipes on low heat, the cup of coffee remained a diamond daily for many Jordanians. Today, this haven is about to turn into a new symbol of the high cost, at a time when the citizen is looking for a comfortable space that is not costly than possible.
