Coffee Prices Soar in Arkhangelsk: Time for Tea or Chicory?
Coffee in Arkhangelsk and the surrounding region has become so expensive in 2025 that it«s impossible not to notice. Prices for instant and bean coffee continue to steadily climb across all of Russia and into 2026, setting new records. MSK1.RU asked experts what is happening with the cost of this product, why the usual morning cup of an invigorating drink is becoming an expensive pleasure, and whether there is a chance that coffee will stop rising in price.
Will Coffee Become an Inaccessible Luxury?
Coffee prices have been steadily rising over the past three years. Both instant and bean coffee have become more expensive. According to Rosstat (the Federal State Statistics Service), in January 2022 a kilogram of instant coffee in Russia cost an average of 2,638 rubles (about $29 at current rates). By the end of that same year, the price had jumped by a quarter. In 2023, the price decreased slightly, but, alas, not for long.
In January 2024, the price tag for instant coffee confidently began to rise and by December had reached 3,500 rubles (about $39). And in November 2025, this product set a new maximum — 4,152 rubles per kilogram (about $46). In total: instant coffee, long considered a budget option, gradually lost that status and over three years became almost 60% more expensive.
Prices for bean coffee grew less rapidly, but almost without pullbacks. In January 2022, a kilogram cost 1,136 rubles (about $13), and by December — already 1,490 rubles (about $17). Throughout 2023, the price practically froze around that mark, fluctuating within a few rubles.
A new increase began in 2024, and in November 2025 the price reached a maximum — 2,061 rubles (about $23). Over three years, bean coffee became approximately 80% more expensive — much more than instant.
«Rosstat records averaged dynamics, which smooths out these sharp spikes across different goods and periods, so the consumer»s personal experience often turns out to be more painful,« Dmitry Gushchin, general director of Lalibela Coffee, told MSK1.RU.
Why Coffee Is Getting More Expensive in Russia
At the beginning of 2025, experts suggested that coffee prices could rise significantly, but even their forecasts fell far short of reality: average growth was expected at 30–40%.
«In fact, we are seeing price increases. According to market estimates and consumer observations, over the past 2–3 years, many popular brands of ground and bean coffee in supermarkets have become 50–100% more expensive or more. A package that cost 300–400 rubles in 2021 is now 600–800 rubles and above,» Anna Belikova, SEO of the coffee brand Elbeans, told MSK1.RU.
In 2025, the price increase for this product in Russia was felt more strongly than «average inflation,» because coffee is almost entirely tied to imports and the exchange price of raw materials.
«World prices for coffee raw materials remained high. For Russia, this immediately translates into the purchase cost, because there is no local raw material,» emphasizes marketer Anastasia Mikhailova. «Fluctuations in the ruble plus the rising cost of international payments and logistics increase the price of a sack of coffee even before roasting. Delivery has become longer and more expensive, and also more expensive packaging (film, valves, boxes) — a noticeable share of the cost.»
As a result, coffee has ceased to be a purchase unnoticed by the budget. Prices are steep both for instant coffee, which has sharply risen in price, and for bean coffee, which has increased in cost more smoothly.
«The Increase Occurs Through Several Rises»
Lovers of the morning ritual and visitors to coffee shops will either have to look for promotions and discounts or come to terms with it: coffee has again become an expensive pleasure.
«Coffee in coffee shops overall, by feel, has become about 20 percent more expensive,» MSK1.RU reader Dmitry said. «If we talk about the mass segment like »Kofiks« (which offers coffee at a single price), then there it seems more or less unchanged. If about specialty, then it»s already felt. The beans themselves have become more expensive, because I order, and probably there«s a 10–15 percent increase.»
«I»ve started drinking coffee less often, and not at all because doctors forbid it. Before, no morning began until I sat in the kitchen with a cup,« pensioner Tatyana Anatolyevna lamented.
Not only coffee lovers suffer from rising raw material prices, but also business owners. The myth of the «super profitability» of coffee in establishments and to-go is very persistent, but reality is more complicated. The cost of coffee in a cup from a coffee shop is about 20 rubles, the rest is milk, the cup itself, staff payroll, rent, taxes. After deductions, net profit is at best 15–45 rubles per cup.
«On average across retail and food service during 2025, coffee became about 15–30% more expensive year-on-year, and in certain formats and items (especially 100% arabica and specialty) the increase could reach 35–45%,» Anastasia Mikhailova explained to MSK1.RU. «On the shelf, this is most visible in medium+ segment beans/ground, and in coffee shops — in espresso-based drinks (cappuccino/latte), where the increase often doesn»t come in one jump, but through several rises of 10–20 rubles over a year.«
What Will Happen to Coffee Prices in 2026
Forecasting coffee prices is always a complex equation with many variables: from the weather in Brazil to the ruble exchange rate. However, there is a possibility that from 2026 the cost of coffee may rise due to an increase in VAT to 22%.
«Further growth will occur, but more stepwise and cautious. Expected +8–15% per year for the average market, if there are no new sharp jumps in currency and logistics. With a worsening exchange rate/logistics and rising world raw material prices — growth of +15–25% and above, especially in arabica, capsules, and specialty,» added Anastasia Mikhailova.
Despite rising prices, demand for coffee in Russia remains high — many are not ready to give it up. This allows companies to pass costs on to the buyer.
«In Russia, the market for coffee prepared outside the home is experiencing fierce competition. The entry of the largest federal retail chains into this market (for example, »Pyatyorochka« and »Perekryostok« coffee shops inside stores) radically changes the market landscape, setting a trend towards lowering the price of a cup of coffee in the »to-go« format,» Dmitry Gushchin said. «Compared to the expenses of an average European or American ($3.5–5 per cup), a Russian today gets the minimum cost for quality coffee, born from the struggle of formats and producers.»
Furthermore, experts expect that in 2026–2027 the robusta harvest will be 10% higher than the previous season, and exports may grow by 7% — to 1.6 million tons.
«The period of shock spikes is probably behind us. But the era of cheap coffee is over. We are entering a plateau phase with moderate volatility, where the price will be determined by currency, competition, and consumer habits. The main restraining factor now is consumers» unwillingness to pay more,« Anna Belikova believes. »Retail prices in stores should not rise sharply, but a significant decrease should not be expected either. A correction of 5–10% downwards by the end of 2026 — beginning of 2027 is possible if exchange prices remain at current levels and the ruble is stable.«
Earlier, experts said that the price increase for the invigorating drink could set a record since the start of the special military operation. The most expensive coffee in Russia was in Moscow, but in this list of anti-leaders, other cities unexpectedly appeared. There is also a chance that due to a coffee shortage we may return to barley drinks and chicory.
