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Prepare to pay (even) more for your daily cup of joe: Coffee prices have spiked in recent months, primarily because of global supply issues, though U.S. tariffs are adding some heat to this market. Coffee futures, the global benchmark for arabica coffee, have risen more than 33% since July and nearly hit a four-month high in late August as traders have become concerned about the prospect of a slump in coffee supplies coming out of major markets like Brazil and Vietnam amid volatile weather in these regions. Conab, Brazils crop forecasting agency, this week slashed the estimate for its 2025 arabica coffee crop by nearly 5% and warned that U.S. tariffs could drive further price gains. The 50% tariffs that President Donald Trump imposed on Brazil took effect last month and put upward pressure on coffee prices, according to an August report from the International Coffee Organization. Those factors are likely to mean that consumers will have to pay even more to make coffee at home or buy a cup on the go. Ground coffee prices hit a record high of $8.41 per pound in July, up 33% from a year ago, according to the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. After eggs, coffee experienced the second-highest inflation rate in any category of the consumer price index in July. The J.M. Smucker Co., which owns Folgers and Café Bustelo, has raised coffee prices twice this year and is likely to do so again this winter as a result of Trumps tariffs, according to reporting by The Wall Street Journal. WEATHER VOLATILITY Tariffs have become a new ingredient in a coffee market thats been roiled by weather volatility in recent years. There have been severe droughts in both Brazil and Vietnam, and these two countries are the worlds top two coffee producers, according to Bernstein analysts. But there could be some reasons to be optimistic that coffee prices will start to stabilize. Rains in Brazil could allay some of the concerns about the impact of the drought in the South American country, while the outlook from Vietnam has also improved as the country has forecasted a higher crop output for this year. Price pressures should be easing off in the near term, Danilo Gargiulo, a senior research analyst at Bernstein, told CNBC. Improving weather and capital investment to boost productivity signal lower prices ahead, while the impact of tariffs on Brazilian imports may be somewhat limited for consumers who buy coffee from the major chains, he added. BRAZIL-U.S. TRADE TALKS Finally, there could be some hope for changes on the horizon in terms of Brazil-U.S. trade negotiations. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazils president, is convening a virtual meeting of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) nations next week to discuss Trumps trade policy, according to Bloomberg. The Brazilian president has repeatedly called on Trump to negotiate on trade after Trump imposed the second-highest tariffs on the nation in retaliation for its prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro. But Lula has also authorized a retaliation process against Trumps tariffs, in an attempt to bring the U.S. president back to the negotiation table.
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Spirit Airlines said it is ending service to a dozen U.S. cities, a week after filing for bankruptcy for a second time in less than a year. The first bankruptcy came in November 2024. The discount carrier flies throughout the U.S., Latin America, and the Caribbean with an all-Airbus fleet. The news comes a day after Spirit Aviation Holdings, Inc., parent company of Spirit Airlines, announced its Chapter 11 filing was approved. That will enable the low-cost airline to keep flights running and the business afloat. In an open letter to Spirit customers, the company said it will continue to operate and passengers can continue to book flights and use tickets, credits, and loyalty points. What routes are being canceled? Spirit Airlines told Fast Company that “as part of our efforts to transform our business and position Spirit for long-term success, we are adjusting our network to focus on our strongest performing markets.” On October 2, it will discontinue service to Albuquerque, New Mexico; Birmingham, Alabama; Boise, Idaho; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Oakland, California; Columbia, South Carolina; Portland, Oregon; Sacramento, California; Salt Lake City, Utah; San Diego, California; and San Jose, California, the airline confirmed to Fast Company. Spirit Airlines financials On Tuesday, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) announced it had begun the process of delisting the company, which trades under the ticker symbol FLYY, effectively suspending trading. Spirit Airlines reported a Q2 2025 net loss of $245.8 million with revenue down 20%, leading to “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue to operate.
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Coco Gauff was surprised at how much tinier the replica trophy she got to keep after winning this year’s French Open was than the trophy she posed with on court at Roland-Garros for all the world to see. She even did a TikTok about the discrepancy, drawing more than 2 million views.Why was Gauff so taken aback by what she called the “miniature version”?“I honestly did not know the size it was going to be. I know you never really take the original, but when I won the U.S. Open, they gave me the same size (trophy), with my name engraved on it,” Gauff told The Associated Press. “So I just assumed that Roland Garros would be the same.”Actually, it turns out Gauff’s 2023 championship at the U.S. Open marked the first time the women’s singles winner in New York was given a silver cup significantly larger than the one that is used in the postmatch ceremony. Her replica hardware is 19 1/2 inches tall, the same as both the original and keepsake men’s trophies and 7 1/2 inches bigger than the original women’s trophy.That one, like the original men’s, is displayed during the tournament in a locked glass box near where players enter the event’s main arena and will be briefly handed to, then taken away from, whoever wins the women’s final in Arthur Ashe Stadium this Saturday.From 1987, when the tradition of providing keepsakes at Flushing Meadows began, until two years ago, the female champion took home a 12-inch-tall copy. But the U.S. Tennis Association asked Tiffany & Co. to create replicas for the women to match the size of what the men are allowed to keep. That change coincided with the 50th anniversary of the tournament’s 1973 move to pay equal prize money to women and men at then-player Billie Jean King’s urging.“Equality is in our DNA here at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Everything we do, we’re very intentional about equality and we wanted to do the same as it relates to the champion’s trophies,” U.S. Open tournament director Stacey Allaster said in an interview.“We had a very robust conversation: Should we recreate a new women’s singles champion’s trophy? In the end, we made the decision to stay with history and to not change the trophy itself, but to ensure that the replica trophy was of the same size as the men’s,” said Allaster, who is the chief executive of professional tennis at the USTA. “Trophies are so iconic to the history of this championships, and we just didn’t feel it was the right thing to move away from that history, but (we wanted) to be able to award the singles champions the same sizes.”King wasn’t aware of the switch until the AP asked her about it.“I did not know they did that. It’s fantastic. It’s equal,” King said. “It sends very positive messaging that we matter just as much. Our trophy’s just as big.” Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis Howard Fendrich, AP Tennis Writer
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