Good news, coffee lovers: Your buzz is getting cheaper

Like a caffeine junkie on a morning buzz, the price of coffee futures began spiraling higher in late 2010 -- and coffee brands passed those higher costs on to consumers.

The buzz has worn off, at least briefly. Coffee futures had dropped some 1.7% over the past six months, and now java lovers are enjoying price cuts on some popular brands.

In March, Kraft hiked prices of select coffee products by 70 cents per pound on ground coffee and 6.25 cents per ounce of instant coffee. Kraft had already raised those prices in December 2010.

A Kraft spokeswoman attributed those increases to the soaring cost of green coffee, which is used to make the different blends of coffee available at cafes or grocery stores. Poor growing conditions in South America and other coffee-growing countries had led to fears of an imminent supply crunch.

But those conditions have turned around, according to the International Coffee Organization. The group cites a Wall Street Journal report that said big coffee producers -- Colombia, Mexico, Peru and all Central American countries except for El Salvador -- are having their largest harvest of coffee beans in three years.

The International Coffee Organization also noted that 8.76 million bags of coffee were exported globally in June 2011, compared with 8.02 million in June 2010.