As International Coffee Day arrives, new consumer data shows coffee prices continue to outpace broader food inflation while millions of South Africans maintain their daily coffee habit, Cape {town} Etc reports.
For millions of South Africans, coffee remains part of the daily routine, but the price of keeping that routine going has continued to rise.
On International Coffee Day today, new consumer research has put the spotlight on what South Africans are paying for their coffee, how consumption compares with tea and which brands and venues feature most prominently.
The International Coffee Organisation (ICO) marks 1 October as International Coffee Day, describing it as an opportunity to recognise the diversity of the coffee sector and the millions of farmers whose livelihoods depend on the crop.
Research from South African consumer strategy and analytics company Eighty20 shows that the pressure on household budgets has not translated into a corresponding collapse in coffee consumption. Instead, the data points to changes in what people drink and where they spend their money.
Coffee prices remain above the wider food basket
South Africa’s headline consumer inflation stood at 4.4% in August 2026, while inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages was 1.1%, according to the figures supplied by Eighty20.
Coffee has moved differently, as instant coffee recorded annual inflation of 5.6% in the latest figures, while the category has increased by 57% since mid-2022. Cappuccino sachets have risen by 24.4% over the same period.
The increases are notably different from August 2024, when instant coffee recorded a 22.3% year-on-year price increase. The latest figures nevertheless show that coffee prices remain under pressure even as broader food inflation has moderated.
Stats SA no longer includes ground coffee and beans in its consumer price basket, meaning instant coffee remains the available measure for tracking coffee-price movements in the official inflation data.
Despite the higher prices, coffee remains a widely consumed beverage.
The MAPS data cited by Eighty20 indicates that about 22 million South Africans drank some form of coffee on the day surveyed. This includes pods, ground beans, instant coffee and instant cappuccino.
Tea recorded a higher reach, with about 26 million people consuming Ceylon, rooibos or green tea.
The figures do not show how many cups each person consumed during the day, meaning the comparison measures the number of people consuming each category rather than total volumes.
Eighty20’s Andrew Fulton said coffee prices have remained elevated while consumption has held up.
‘Coffee has stayed stubbornly expensive while the rest of the food basket has cooled, yet consumption is holding up, and a record global harvest could bring relief next year,’ he stated.
The data also points to a difference in how coffee and tea consumption has responded to price movements.
Ground coffee remains more strongly associated with wealthier households, while instant cappuccino has a stronger presence among students, according to the research.
Eighty20’s analysis suggests coffee drinkers have been more responsive to price increases, while tea consumption has grown over the period measured. The comparison uses different starting points for some tea categories because the MAPS dataset did not include all of them in 2022.
There are also distinct differences between coffee formats and household segments.
Ground coffee remains more strongly associated with wealthier households, while instant cappuccino has a stronger presence among students, according to the research.
Ricoffy remains a major local favourite
Brand preferences also form part of South Africa’s coffee story, as the research identifies Ricoffy as a particularly prominent choice in the instant coffee category, while ground coffee has a stronger association with higher-income consumers.
An earlier Eighty20 analysis found that Ricoffy was consumed by more people than the next five leading instant coffee brands combined. Its 2025 research also estimated that 22.7 million South Africans consumed some form of coffee daily.
The company’s latest figures put daily coffee consumption at a similar scale, although the categories and measurement periods differ between the datasets.
The coffee economy extends beyond the supermarket aisle, as BrandMapp data cited in the research identifies Mugg & Bean as the venue most likely to be visited regularly for coffee among households earning more than R10 000 a month, followed by Seattle Coffee, Woolworths and Vida.
Recent reporting has also pointed to growing interest in speciality coffee in South Africa, with consumers increasingly exploring single-origin beans, alternative brewing methods and the provenance of their coffee.
There may be some relief on the horizon, although it is not immediate.
The United States Department of Agriculture forecasts global coffee production to increase by 6% to a record 189.7 million bags in 2026/27.
According to the research, a substantial increase in global supply could eventually place downward pressure on prices in South Africa, potentially becoming more noticeable in 2027.
Global consumption is also expected to remain high, with the worldwide market forecast to reach a record 179.7 million bags.
International Coffee Day puts the focus on a beverage that spans agriculture, global commodity markets, household spending and South Africa’s increasingly diverse café culture.
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