Four months after Starbucks surprised customers by accidentally pushing out its annual price increase two weeks early, the company had another shocker for guests: a second price increase for some drinks and food items.
Starbucks increased the price for certain cold drinks and bakery items by $0.10 to $0.30 earlier this month, the company confirmed to Consumerist.
A rep for the coffee giant says the increases don’t affect about 90% of the company’s beverages, such as hot tea, brewed coffee, espresso and prepared items. Still, the company expects affected customers’ tabs to increase by 0.5% on average.
“We continually evaluate pricing on a product-by-product and market-by-market basis in our stores in order to balance our business needs while continuing to provide value to our loyal customers and to attract new customers,” the rep said.
While the second price increase only affects cold beverages, which might not have that much appeal during these chilly months, some Starbucks customers expressed their displeasure on Twitter at paying more at the counter.
Shoutout to @starbucks for the $5.13 "chocolate milk" I just got instead of the frappuchino I ordered. Price keeps going up, quality down
— Brandice J (@OtherQueenB) November 16, 2016
Starbucks price increase
— bar bar (@barkegg) November 15, 2016
This month’s increase is the fourth in three years for Starbucks. Back in July, the company increased prices on select sizes of brewed coffee by $0.10 to $0.20, while the cost of espresso and tea latte drinks will also rose $0.10 to $0.30.
Last year, the company upped their prices between $0.05 and $0.20. At the time a rep for Starbucks said small and large brewed coffees would each go up by $0.10 in most regions of the country, meaning a large coffee will be around $2.45.
In 2014, Starbucks added $0.10 to $0.15 to most medium and large-sized brewed coffees and $0.15 to $0.20 to small and large-sized lattes.
by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist