A row of Tim Hortons coffee cups are lined up for customers at Penn Station in New York, July 13, 2009. Tim Hortons Inc. today began serving its coffee, baked goods and soups and sandwiches for the first time in New York. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
A row of Tim Hortons coffee cups are lined up for customers at Penn Station in New York, July 13, 2009. Tim Hortons Inc. today began serving its coffee, baked goods and soups and sandwiches for the first time in New York. Reuters/Brendan McDermid

Effective Nov. 26, prices of a cup of coffee as well as sandwiches being sold at Tim Hortons will get marked up by as much as 10 cents on average, depending on the region where its outlet is located.

Breakfast sandwiches such as the bacon and egg on an English muffin and the turkey sausage sandwich will become $2.99 a piece before tax starting Wednesday next week. The price increase in the breakfast sandwiches are applicable to all provinces except Ontario.

Earlier in November, Cynthia Devine, Tim Hortons' chief financial officer, had hinted prices of its coffee and sandwiches could jump as a result of soaring prices of futures contracts for Arabica beans. Devine said prices have nearly doubled this year due to various factors, including the lack of rain in Brazil. The depressing weather scenario, which weather forecasters said could further extend, will greatly impact the production of Arabica beans.

Global prices had already went up to a two-and-a-half year high in October. "Coffee costs, as everyone knows, are much higher than they have been historically and it's been a fairly continued kind of rise in those prices," Devine said. Michelle Robichaud, company spokeswoman, defended the cost increase is somewhat long overdue. "We have been able to hold our pricing stable since spring of 2011, however due to rising operational costs there will be a moderate increase," Robichaud told the Canadian Press.

Tim Hortons isn't the first nor only one that have increased prices of the morning booster. Coffee chain Starbucks, Keurig K-Cup maker Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and J.M. Smucker, which makes the Folgers brand, have all made their price jumps.

But not everything that had been expensive for the company were all due to rising food prices. In the quarter, Tim Hortons booked $27.3 million in costs related to Burger King's agreement to buy the company. Worth over US$11 billion in stock and cash, the deal still requires the approval of shareholders and regulators. Net income that time was likewise down, $98.1-million compared to $113.9-million from a year ago.