CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The caffeine in your morning cup of coffee might not be the only thing giving you a jolt — the price could be, too.

Coffee prices – from generic to specialty brews – have been ticking upward for more than a year with no end in sight.

The price of a pound of raw coffee beans has almost doubled in 12 months. Now consumers are cutting back, roasters are struggling and retailers are scrambling to cover costs.

With rising food and fuel prices, coffee drinkers are left to make tough choices about their caffeine habits.

Christina Sleezer of Fort Mill, N.C., isn’t willing to give up coffee, but something had to give, because “I’ve got to get gas in my car.”

So Sleezer, who works in health care, switched her family of five to generic, store-brand coffee as the price of name brands rose.

She said she refuses to pay $13 for a large can of Folgers or Maxwell House coffee when it used to cost only $8 or $9.

Kraft Foods Inc., makers of Maxwell House, raised prices 22 percent in March. Other price increases came from J.M. Smucker Co., the maker of Folgers, and Starbucks Corp.

Even discount stores have raised prices. Costco’s wholesale coffee costs increased about 25 percent over the past year. Retail prices have gone up 10 percent as a result.

Price increases are the result of higher demand worldwide. Coffee imports have increased by 23 percent over the last decade, according to data from the International Coffee Organization.

Meanwhile, coffee futures rose more than 50 percent in the past year.

“There’s a world demand for better quality coffee,” Dilworth Coffee’s Don King said. “But then speculation multiplies it. … What I hope is, somebody is going to lose their shirt.”

Specialty roasters used to be the only group buying top-quality beans. King said that has changed during the past two decades.

“We’ve got the big guys in there buying the good stuff, too,” King said.

High demand for quality coffee has made it difficult for smaller roasters and cafes to survive.

Jackson’s Java Coffee House in Charlotte has been roasting and selling coffee for more than 16 years. Seven years ago, the company opened a second location uptown.

“With us being a small sort of family – literally having customers that are still coming in from 16 years ago – we’re real sensitive to raising prices, and they are, too,” Jackson said.

Jackson said he was reluctant to pass rising costs to customers, but once the price of raw beans doubled, the coffee shop was forced to.