In short:
Major supermarket coffee brands have changed their marketing in response to bean prices surging to almost 50-year highs.
asserted
prices → change → highs
Some companies no longer label their products as "100 per cent arabica" but instead as "coffee", or mix the more expensive arabica beans with cheaper robusta beans.
What's next?
asserted
What → label → beans
Experts and consumers want companies to flag recipe changes to buyers.
asserted
companies → want → buyers
Major supermarket coffee brands have quietly changed their marketing in response to bean prices surging to almost 50-year highs.
asserted
prices → change → highs
Labelling of premium arabica coffee beans, prized for their sweeter, more complex flavour, has switched in some cases from "100 per cent arabica" to being described as "coffee", or as a blend with robusta, a more bitter variety of the plant.
asserted
Labelling → prize → plant
While the change is legal and does not necessarily mean the coffee is worse, experts say consumers deserve to know when changes are made.
asserted
changes → mean → ?
Cairns pensioner Brian Rantzau said price was his most important consideration when buying coffee, but he also wanted clear information about changes to the product.
asserted
he → say → product
"As a pensioner, you've got to mind every dollar," Mr Rantzau said.
asserted
Rantzau → get → dollar
"It should really tell us what's in it, right?"
asserted
what → tell → it
The price of Mr Rantzau's preferred Coles' Organic Fairtrade Gold Freeze Dried Coffee has doubled since early 2024, jumping from $4 per 100 grams to $8.
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price → double → 8
Earlier this year, the product's "100 per cent arabica" description was also changed to simply read "instant coffee".
asserted
description → change → coffee
Both versions may appear on supermarket shelves at the same time as stores gradually phase out the old recipe.
uncertain
stores → appear → recipe
Gold Coast mother Vicki Jarvis said she stopped buying the product.
asserted
she → say → product
"It just kept going up, and now it's $8 a jar, and I just would not pay that," she said.
asserted
she → keep → that
"[But] if they've gone and changed what is actually in it, it should be written on the front of the label to let people know."
asserted
people → go → label
A spokesperson for Coles said from time to time, product formulations may need to change in response to ingredient availability and supply conditions.
uncertain
formulations → say → availability
"We work closely with our suppliers to ensure our products continue to meet our quality standards and provide great value for customers," the spokesperson said.
asserted
spokesperson → work → customers
'Consumers should feel ripped off'
asserted
Consumers → rip → ?
Australian food labelling rules do not require coffee companies to identify the species of bean unless they make a specific claim about it.
uncertain
they → require → it
University of Queensland sensory scientist Heather Smyth said consumers had every right to feel ripped off.
asserted
consumers → say → right
Professor Smyth said consumers should be told when a product they had previously chosen for a key ingredient had changed.
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they → say → ingredient
"Consumers should feel ripped off if something very small has changed in a product and the makers of that product are not declaring what that change is,"she said.
asserted
change → feel → what
Jason Lilienstein runs a specialty roaster in Toowoomba, Queensland, and has only ever used arabica beans, bought directly from Colombian farmers he has met personally.
asserted
he → run → farmers
"Arabica has always been the preferred, high-quality bean," he said.
asserted
he → prefer → ?
Robusta is not necessarily bad, he said, but he has not found one good enough for his blends.
asserted
he → say → blends
"I haven't found it of sufficient quality to put in any of our coffee at this stage."
asserted
it → find → stage
He said his customers tend to focus less on the species of bean and more on its flavour and origin.
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customers → say → flavour
Coffee prices have soared recently, with arabica prices reaching $15.40 a kilogram, while robusta hit $8.73 a kilogram — levels not seen since 1977 — piling pressure onto manufacturers.
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robusta → soar → manufacturers
While prices have fallen about 35 per cent from their peak ahead of what is expected to be a record Brazilian harvest, some say consumers may not see lower prices as other costs continue to rise.
uncertain
costs → fall → prices
Some coffee manufacturers have responded by adjusting the composition of their blends.
asserted
manufacturers → respond → blends
Australian-owned coffee manufacturer Vittoria's website once prominently promoted its coffee as "100 per cent arabica", stating in 2020: "At Vittoria coffee, we make no excuses, all our coffee is 100 per cent arabica".
asserted
coffee → own → excuses
And in mid-2025, the company's website described robusta as an "inferior quality bean".
But a few months later, that message had changed.
asserted
message → describe → bean
"If you're anti-robusta, try a freshly roasted blend that has been thoughtfully and scientifically created for consistency and flavour; you may be surprised at the result," the website said.
uncertain
website → try → result
In a statement, managing director Rolando Schirato said the company had since removed "100 per cent arabica" branding from some products to give consumers a more affordable option.
asserted
company → say → option
He said whole bean and instant products remained predominantly arabica.
asserted
products → say → ?
"We introduced a proportion of robusta into a small number of blends so that customers would have a more affordable option," he said.
asserted
he → introduce → option
Mr Schirato also said coffee companies routinely changed blends to maintain a consistent taste as crops, growing conditions and coffee availability changed.
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crops → say → taste
"It is not practical to label these adjustments, particularly as packaging is produced well in advance of the coffee that goes into it,"he said.
asserted
that → label → it,"he
While the change is recent for some, the world's biggest food company, Nescafé, has used robusta in some of its premium Gold products in Australia for more than a decade.
"[We] have used carefully balanced blends of arabica and robusta to deliver the flavour, aroma and coffee experience consumers expect from each product.
asserted
consumers → use → product
This remains unchanged," beverages general manager Martin Brown said in a statement.
asserted
Brown → remain → statement
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia