The prices of coffee are touching the sky. Last month, one-pound can of ground coffee was sold for $5.10 from $3.64 last year. According to an economist, unlike many other flexible items, coffee usually emerges from a recession relatively unharmed because when there is lack of money, people may buy cheaper brands of coffee, but they won't give it up completely.

It has come to light that the Top US packaged coffee maker, J M Smucker Co has raised the prices for key brands including flagship Folgers by an average of 11% on Tuesday, its fourth and biggest hike in a year.

Even after benchmark coffee futures slipped back from a 34-year high the prices of coffee witnessed hike. Smucker has raised prices by a total 38% since last May, while arabica futures in New York have doubled.

It has emerged that the rising costs have led companies across the board like Starbucks, Green Mountain Coffee and Nestlé’s premium portioned coffee brand Nespresso, to pass on the costs to shoppers. Until now, there have been no signs of dampened demand for coffee in the United States. And many analysts are of the opinion that rapid new demand from emerging markets like China and India will compensate for flattening growth in mature markets.