New prices from July 2026

As of 15 July 2026, we have increased our retail prices for coffee and espresso by an average of 10 per cent. These price increases are necessary because we are paying the coffee cooperatives and farmers 10 to 22 per cent more for green coffee compared with the previous year.

At the same time, we have had to increase our cost-based mark-up by 20 to 25 cents per kg. This is primarily to offset increased transport and administrative costs resulting from statutory regulations. You can find an overview of the new prices as a PDF document at www.cafe-libertad.de/price-lists. We would also like to use an example to explain how the retail prices are actually calculated and broken down.

Example calculation: 500g Libertad roasted coffee

Libertad Zapatista coffee, item number 100, now costs 10.70 euros instead of the previous price of 9.85 euros. The Yachil and Yochin cooperatives have received, in accordance with the current contracts, 170 MXN per kg of coffee from Café Libertad Kollektiv eG, compared with a purchase price of 155 MXN in the previous year. Depending on the exchange rate, this equates to approximately 149,000 euros for a container of 250 sacks, plus around 4,000 euros in additional import costs for sea freight, insurance, transport, duties, etc.

On average, this results in a cost price of 8.65 euros per kg. As the imports have not yet been finalised, these figures may still change slightly during the year. The table below shows how the current selling price is calculated based on this cost price.

Article 100: Libertad 500g ground

€8.65 Green coffee per kg (after import)
€1.38 Roasting loss
€0.12 Energy surcharge
€0.27 Roasting
€0.10 Grinding
€0.40 Filling
€0.28 Labelling
€0.40 Packaging
€2.19 Coffee tax
€0.05 Transport
€13.84 Value after roasting
€5.55 Operating costs
€0.50 Advertised funds
€0.10 Provision for reserves
€19.99 Total per kg 

€10.00 Unit price for 500g
€0.70 plus VAT

New list price: €10.70

In addition to the 50 cents for advertised grants, a further 10 cents is included as an additional surcharge to build up our co-operative’s reserve fund, which we also need in order to grant interest-free advance payments to coffee cooperatives in the form of loans.

In 2025, thanks to your support, we were able to allocate over 80,000 euros in funding, as priced into the coffee and advertised. We would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank you all! Our vision of solidary trade and coffee for the daily struggle would not be possible without the support of many people who want to see things change and who are actively developing a social perspective of solidarity in practice. You can find details of the grants allocated at www.cafe-libertad.de/foerdergelder-archiv (sorry, German language only).

Operating costs account for 26.9 per cent of Café Libertad’s annual turnover. This includes 15.9 per cent for staff costs and 6 per cent for the cost of goods sold. The remainder is made up of premises, consultancy, administrative and other operating expenses, such as waste disposal costs, insurance and levies. Our cooperative’s annual accounts are published in the Federal Gazette.

In addition, just under 44,000 euros had to be spent on interest in 2025. Capital requirements have risen due to higher green coffee prices, and with them the advance payments made as interest-free loans to the coffee cooperatives, so that they can purchase the harvested green coffee from their members and process it further.

Developments in recent years and current plans

In total, Café Libertad Kollektiv plans to purchase 3,517 sacks of green coffee in 2026 for an estimated 1.97 million euros, of which approximately 1.2 million will be paid as advance payments up to six months before delivery. In order to respond to dynamics on the world market, we have increased the green coffee prices paid to our partner cooperatives. The trend in the purchase price of our coffee from the Zapatista cooperatives in relation to the world market price is illustrated in the figure below. To make the presentation clearer, we have converted the price from MXN to US dollars per kg.

Whilst large corporations usually benefit from global market dynamics and compensate for them, for example during periods of low prices, we work together with the coffee cooperatives to enable the most stable and secure planning possible for them and their smallholder members.

We, as well, have faced challenges in financing green coffee in recent years. However, for the coffee cooperatives in particular, fluctuating market prices – which have in some cases risen sharply – have made it more difficult to fulfil their contracts with members and trading partners whilst at the same time generating the necessary surpluses to process the coffee further and ensure it is fit for export. In particular, ongoing, human-induced climate change is currently fuelling speculation on future green coffee prices. High prices for green coffee are beneficial and necessary, especially for smallholder farmers. It is, however, a dramatic situation when market dynamics remain volatile and are driven by speculation on the stock exchange. This is primarily fuelled by the financially powerful perpetrators of global climate change, who simultaneously speculate on natural disasters and extreme weather events. Here, post-colonial conditions persist as the absurdity of a capitalist world order that increasingly presents itself as the solution to the very problems it has caused.

We’ll keep at it and continue to strive to secure the best possible prices for producers and consumers. This is only possible through long-term relationships, direct imports and the support of all of you. Sometimes we are thwarted by the circumstances, sometimes we manage to outwit them, but the main thing is that we keep moving forward, even in these times that seem so difficult and uncertain. Questioning, yet angry and full of life in resistance. 

Café Libertad Collective, July 2026