Starbucks Raises Coffee Prices 10-20 Cents On Tuesday

Paying 10-20 cents more for your Starbucks grande or venti coffee may really wake you up this week.

The Seattle, Washington, coffee retailer increased prices for coffee on Tuesday, USA Today reports.

According to the report, the coffee increases went into effect at company-owned stores, and the amount of the increase was determined by which market the store was in.

Prices on most other types of drinks, like lattes, iced teas, and mochas, were not affected, USA Today reported.

Company spokeswoman Sanja Gould told USA Today that the increases of about 1-2 percent nationwide were in line with the rising costs of prepared foods bought outside the home, which rose 2.2-2.4 percent.

“Evaluating prices periodically allows us to balance the need to run our business profitably while continuing to provide value to our loyal customers and to attract new customers,” she said. “This price adjustment was not related to last week’s store closures and trainings.”

Some 8,000 stores in the chain recently closed nationwide for a day in order to better train employees on racial sensitivity and diversity after two African-American men were arrested and charged with trespassing for sitting in a Philadelphia store.

A video of the arrests went viral and led to the company changing its policy about the public being able to use store restrooms or seats even if they don’t buy anything.

It was also announced Monday that the company’s CEO, Howard Schultz, would step down June 26 and hand the firm over to Kevin Johnson.

According to the USA Today report, while the price increases could be due to the store closings or possibly losing customers because of the Philadelphia incident, those losses could be made up due to the nature of the product.

“One of the great things about Starbucks’ product is that it’s habit-forming, so you’ve got a consumer that really needs their daily, weekly, hourly fix,” John Zolidis of Quo Vadis Capital said. “Twenty cents or 10 cents, some won’t even notice.”

The company reported a strong second quarter 13.9 percent growth over 2017 with $6 billion in revenue compared to $5.29 billion last year, according to the article.

Zolidis said in the article that the price increase may have more to do with the departure of Schultz, focusing on China, and the addition of a new Serious Strawberry Frappuccino to the permanent menu, as opposed to a limited-time drink.

“The business in the U.S. is becoming more saturated and offering less growth,” he said. “They need to find new ways to squeeze more out of the lemon.”