COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KMTV) — Ella Pierce opened Backpacker's Brew on North 16th Street in Council Bluffs this summer, right after her college graduation.
"I love getting to connect with people and understand their stories over something as simple as a cup of coffee," Pierce said.
With a business degree, barista experience, and her twin sister working the drive-thru, Pierce took a college business pitch and made it a reality. But she's already facing some unexpected challenges.
Pierce says commercial espresso machines are imported from Italy, and when she purchases a second one in a few months, the cost of importing it will be higher due to tariffs.
"If things keep going how they're saying it's going to keep going, unfortunately, that's going to have to get passed down (to the customer)," Pierce said.
Another industry fueling neighbors is ethanol.
"It's a fluid situation and it has our attention," said Mike Jerke, the CEO of SIRE Ethanol in Council Bluffs.
Jerke's product is exported, and he's "cautiously optimistic" about pending trade deals with the EU and Brazil. However, the biggest export market for corn ethanol is Canada, and that trade deal remains uncertain.
"It continues to be, I think, a day-by-day sort of situation," Jerke said.
Pierce says she'll adapt moving forward. She mostly buys espresso beans from Peru, which currently don't have the same high tariffs as Brazilian coffee beans, for example.
"What do you do? You just kinda gotta roll with the punches," Pierce said.
Currently, a medium specialty coffee at Backpacker's Brew costs about $6.50. Pierce says that's already a bit high for many neighbors she knows and higher than she'd like it to cost, but industry experts suggest coffee lovers may be willing to pay upwards of $7 a cup if tariffs continue to drive costs higher.
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