One of the most popular coffee shop chains, Starbucks announced that the prices for some of its coffee drinks will go up by 5 to 20 cents in U.S coffee shops. However, Starbucks officials said that the prices of some of their most popular coffee beverages, including the Frappucino and the Grande Brewed Coffee will not be altered.
The price increase comes at a time when the price of coffee has gone down due to the droughts in Brazil, which is the biggest producer of coffee in the world. Many were concerned that the harsh weather conditions that affect Brazil will have an impact on the coffee supply.
While Starbucks coffee prices are going up, other coffee sellers are lowering down their prices. For example, last week J.M. Smucker announced that it will reduce the prices of most of its coffee products because the price of unroasted coffee beans has gone down. Starbucks has stated that the costs of coffee are not the only expenses the company encounters. They also have to take into consideration other aspects like labor, rent, equipment and marketing expenses.
Starbucks also stated that it’s constantly evaluating the prices of its products in order to find the perfect balance between running the business as profitably as possible and providing the customers with the best products at the best prices, while attracting new customers every day.
Lisa Passe, a Starbucks representative, said the recent price increase will not affect more than 20% of the existing customers. She added that the estimate is actually based on the present purchasing patterns, which at the moment include more cold beverages because it’s the summer season. Passé said that the price hikes will affect less than 20% of Starbucks’ customers and will increase the average price ticket by only 1%.
Ms Passe explained in an interview that Starbucks will implement the price increase “product by product and market by market”. Also, the price increase will not affect the packaged coffee products or the food items.
The tall and Venti cups of brewed coffee, which means small and big, will apparently cost 10 cents more in the U.S markets. For example, the price of a Venti coffee will be $2.4 in the majority of US outlets.
Starbucks increased the prices for most of its coffee drinks last year for the first time in more than four years.
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