Price of instant coffee goes bananas

COFFEE lovers will have to swallow a 10% rise thanks to soaring world demand, combined with supply shortages.

The Grocer magazine said prices had risen as the impact of a shortfall in raw materials took hold.

Its weekly High Street price survey showed the price of a 200g jar of Nescafe instant coffee had risen from £3.24 to £3.58 in Britain's big four supermarket chains.

The first warning that prices would rise came last month and followed poor growing conditions in Brazil, Colombia and Vietnam.

A spokesman for Nestle said a combination of more expensive ingredients, transportation, packaging, energy and productioncosts had had an impact on the cost of a jar of Nescafe coffee.

But any coffee drinkers thinking of taking solace in the fruit bowl could have to think again.

The cost of bananas, thought to be the country's favourite fruit, has also gone up more than 10p per kilogram in the past week.

Loose bananas have jumped from 74p a kilo to an average of 85p.