Through its website and daily newsletters, The Peak (a ZoomerMedia property) offers Canadians the news they need to understand business, tech, and other must-know stories.
In this dispatch, The Peak looks at why the price of coffee is set to increase, Apple’s plan to launch an AI-powered health app and Dollarama’s big investment Down Under.
The Price of Your Morning Joe is Going Up
It’s going to be a little harder to justify splurging on that latte during your morning commute.
Driving the news: The price of coffee at grocery stores and cafes across North America is expected to go up by as much as 25 per cent in the next few weeks as roasters and retailers start passing the higher costs of raw beans onto consumers.
- According to Reuters, brands like Lavazza, Illy, and Nestlé are currently in talks with retailers about hiking consumer prices to offset the higher costs of arabica beans.
- The chief financial officer of Starbucks said in January that the prices of its grocery store products, in particular, will be affected “in a more meaningful way.”
Why it’s happening: Prices for arabica beans, the most popular coffee bean, have climbed more than 20 per cent this year after jumping 70 per cent last year. Severe droughts in Brazil, which produces nearly half the world’s arabica, have been the main culprit.
- Because of the much higher prices, buyers put off signing new long-term contracts. Now, they’re facing higher contract prices and dwindling supply.
Why it matters: So far, roasters, grocery stores, and coffee shops have mostly held off on price hikes, but as they run out of beans and are forced to pay market price, coffee drinkers are going to start footing at least part of the bill for those added costs. —Lucas Arender
Apple Wants to Put a Doctor in Your Pocket
Apple thinks it has found a better use for AI than making it easy to search your photo library — putting a personal health team on your phone.
What happened: Apple is planning to launch a powered-up version of its Health app as early as next spring, per Bloomberg, with the aim of replicating some of the work done by health professionals, including:
- Doctors: The improved Health app will pull in data from your devices and use AI to generate recommendations for improving your health based on what it finds. Some of that advice will be delivered through videos prerecorded by actual doctors.
- Nutritionists: The app will reportedly include food tracking, allowing users to record what they eat and offering nutrition suggestions based on their diet and health metrics.
- Trainers: Users will also be able to use their phone’s camera to record their workouts and get feedback on their form.
Why it matters: Apple CEO Tim Cook has said the company’s greatest contribution to the world will be in health care, but its current offering is closer to a high-end step tracker. The company hopes its vast amount of data on its users, coupled with increasingly powerful AI models, will allow it to achieve Cook’s vision.
- Apple has been laying the groundwork to use data from its 2.2 billion active devices for real-world products in the personal health space, including through a recent study involving 400,000 participants.
Yes, but: Apple has had grand visions for transforming healthcare in the past (including Steve Jobs’ plan to sense if Apple Watch users were prediabetic) that haven’t materialized — time will tell if this effort is different. —Taylor Scollon
Dollarama Bets On the Rejects
Like a university student flipping through study abroad brochures, Canadians’ go-to dollar store has its eyes on the sunny shores of Australia.
Driving the news: Dollarama is buying Australian discount retailer the Reject Shop for $233 million, paying over double the brand’s market value. The Montréal retailer will look to turn around the hilariously named company’s fortunes after years of slumping sales.
- Dollarama plans on adding over 300 new Reject Shop locations across the country by 2034, nearly doubling the Melbourne retailer’s current footprint.
- The expansion comes as the Canadian chain plans to boost its store count at home by almost 40% over the same time frame.
Why it matters: Dollarama’s retail formula has already made it the most valuable dollar store chain in North America. Given how similar the Australian and Canadian markets are, the company believes it can replicate its money-printing machine down under.
- There’s certainly room for growth. The Reject Shop has no direct competitor in the country, and there’s currently only one discount store per 52,000 people.
Big picture: Dollarama’s global ambitions keep growing. Last year, it upped its majority stake in Latin American chain Dollarcity, which is set to double its store count across Colombia, Peru, El Salvador, and Guatemala by 2030. It also plans to open its first locations in Mexico next year. —LA
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