Three bills, in the order they come due.

Contract processing. The plant bills the operation by weight. The order of magnitude reported by the trade press in 2025-2026 is 0.50 to 1.50 dollars a pound, or about 1 to 3 dollars a kilo, depending on the process and the volume. The Swiss Water Process, more expensive, often ends up 3 to 5 dollars more per bag at the roaster.

Weight loss. This is the bill the public ignores and the accountant sees immediately. Between soaking, extraction and drying, roughly 10 to 12% of the starting mass goes. You load one hundred kilos, you get back eighty-eight or ninety. The lost coffee was paid for at full price, and it must be built back into the price of what remains.

Transport and immobilization. A decaffeinated lot makes a detour, sometimes intercontinental, and spends a few more weeks in stock. Capital sleeps during that time.

Put end to end, this should give a decaf clearly more expensive than its caffeinated equivalent. That is not always what is observed on the shelf: in specialty coffee, decaf often sells at a price close to the rest of the range, the difference being absorbed by the roaster. The reason is not generosity, it is the position of the product. A customer who drinks decaf drinks it every day, often for a medical reason, and is among the most loyal on the customer list. Such customers are not taxed, they are kept.

CoffeeGeek, Why your decaf now costs as much as the good stuff; Decadent Decaf, Why is decaf more expensive than regular coffee?, accessed on 09/18/2026; orders of magnitude, medium evidence