Starbucks To Increase Prices

Your daily visit to Starbucks is going to cost you (as if it didn't already). Starting Tuesday, the Seattle-based coffee company says that it will increase its prices nationally by an average of 1 percent, reports the Associated Press. Though this should affect only part of the menu, the company assured customers that what they pay for many drinks, for example the medium- and large-brewed coffees and Frappuccinos, won't be changed. The price of a small-brewed coffee will increase by 10 cents, and other drinks could increase by even more.

Lisa Passe, a Starbucks spokeswoman, noted that less than one-third of drink prices should increase, and these changes will vary by region. These will be the first changes customers will see since an increase two years ago. This hike in prices comes even after a dip in coffee cost on the market. According to the article, Mark Kalinowski, an analyst from Janney Montgomery Scott, estimated that Starbucks would pay about half of the $1.4 billion it did for coffee in 2012 because of this decrease in market price. Passe mentioned that beyond coffee costs, other high expenses like rent, labor, equipment, and other ingredients are factors in the price increases.