I’m calling BS on Folgers’ and Dunkin’ Donuts’ coffee price hike.

I’ve always said that if coffee were priced as Big Oil prices gasoline, a 16 ounce cup of coffee would cost more than a gallon of gas.

Now it seems as if one of the largest coffee retailers is taking a page from the Big Oil play book. Earlier this year, I reported that coffee leaf rust had ravaged coffee crops in southern Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. This is not a new problem.

Leaf rust fungus attacks the coffee tree leaves. The tree cannot produce quality cherries.

Coffee leaf rust first hit Central America in the 1970s. But now the fungus has spread to some farms in the higher elevations where the better quality beans grow. I also reported, ” Limited Central American coffee futures are being offset by a glut of coffee in Brazil and some African countries.”

However, J.M. Smucker, which has a licensing agreement with Dunkin’ Donuts and Folgers brands, announced it would raise the price of its coffees sold in supermarkets by 9 percent. Starbucks has already announced it would not raise its prices despite the coffee crisis in some Central American countries.

Farmers in Central America, Africa and Brazil are already replacing their trees

Many farmers are replacing their old trees with new coffee plants that better resist the airborne disease, however it will be two to three years before the new plants produce the valuable beans. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)The Associated Press

with a leaf rust resistant variety. The tree will not only fight leaf rust, but it will produce a better coffee cherry/bean. A real threat to coffee is a drought that could affect coffee production in Brazil, the world’s largest coffee producing nation.

By the way, a cup of coffee per ounce is way more expensive than gasoline. Do the math: Brewed coffee can cost as much as $24 a gallon. $1.50 divided by 8 ounces times 128 ounces in a gallon.