If you’re anything like me, you’re too bleary-eyed before your morning coffee to really look closely at how much you’re being charged at Starbucks. I order the same thing every day and pay with the app too, so I’m even more removed from how much the transaction actually costs. That’s probably why so many of us don’t notice when the coffee giant raises its prices, as Starbucks recently did this week.
More:The Starbucks Mermaid Frappuccino Is the Perfect Excuse to Go to Mexico
The chain raised prices on about 10 percent of their menu items at many locations nationwide, though they haven’t specified exactly how many stores are affected. In general, these items — including certain brewed coffee and espresso drinks, bacon-gouda breakfast sandwiches and cookies — saw a 10- to 30-cent increase. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but if your usual weekday order went up 30 cents, that means you’ll be shelling out an extra $78 or so over the course of the year.
The move comes as Starbucks struggles to improve business. Customer traffic in stores has been flat or declining for the past year, so the chain has been trying to boost profits by getting customers to spend more per visit, which they’ve done by increasing their product offerings (especially food items) and, yes, raising prices.
More:Starbucks Now Has a Turmeric Latte, but There’s a Catch
Starbucks is already notorious for its pricey coffee, so this might not help its reputation. But honestly, without my morning coffee, I’m total garbage, so even if prices at my local outpost of the chain go up, I’ll still drag myself there every day. I guess that’s the benefit of shilling a (completely addictive) product everyone is desperate to have in order to function.
Leave a Comment