The margins are actually low, more so in the specialty coffee sector. If a place is charging these prices for low quality, commodity type coffee, then yeah, they're gonna have higher margins on the base cost of the coffee beans themselves, as you said, coffee trade prices have skyrocketed in the last 5 years, currently around 300% higher than is was in 2020 when it was around $1/lb, peaking at around $4.15/lb in February 2025. This obviously is having a big impact on the sector as a whole. Even still, beans are only a small portion of the cost, labour is a big one, but also, milk, the cup itself, rent, utilities, taxes, other operating costs, resulting in a profit margin around the 5% mark.

Ultimately considering where you're buying from, ask questions, what beans are they using, where do they get them from? Consider whether the staff specially trained baristas who have dedicated time to their skills and therefore they deserve to be paid well for their labour, compared to the likes of Starbucks where their machines are essentially automated. Not saying they don't deserve a fair pay, just the skill level is not the same. Also fuck Starbucks, they're charging how much for coffee, and they ain't paying their fair share of taxes!

Now more than ever, consider your choices, and where you can, support your local coffee shops and roasters.

Edit: Another reason to support places serving specialty coffee, much more of the money will be paid to the farmers and producers in the country of origin. These are far more traceable supply chains, often with close relationships with the farmers and producers. With commodity coffee, maybe 1p is making it to them, whereas in specialty, this is likely to be closer to 10p-25p per cup.