HALIFAX -- Your morning coffee run to Starbucks is going to cost you a little more.
Without word to anyone, the company increased prices on about 30 per cent of their products including tea and coffee.
Keeping quiet about the increases doesn’t surprise food policy expert Sylvain Charlebois.
“Starbucks will advertise, will promote strategies that are related to branding that is related to sustainability, that is related to new products, lots of new products, menu changes; they’ll brag about that, they’ll make announcements for that,” Charlebois says. “But, not for prices.”
When asked why the price increase wasn’t advertised, the company didn’t provide an answer.
In a release to CTV News, Starbucks did say many factors contribute to its pricing decisions, including operating and occupancy expenses, where rent, marketing, equipment, materials and distribution all come into play.
“We evaluate and adjust pricing on an ongoing product-by-product and market-by-market basis in order to balance the need to run our business effectively, while continuing to provide maximum value to our customers,” the company’s statement read in part.
Charlebois points to Starbucks ongoing sustainability strategy as a factor in the price bump.
“They’re looking at dairy alternatives, they’re looking at plastics, they’re looking at several things that will eventually cost more,” the Dalhousie Food Distribution and Policy Professor says. “It will cost more to operate their 35,000 stores. They don’t have a choice.”
Despite the increase, Charlebois didn’t expect it so soon.
“I suspect they have some sort of incremental strategy,” he says. “They may increase coffee subtly now, and they may increase prices again in six months, or a year from now.”
One advantage Starbucks appears to have, according to Charlebois, is that those who like Starbucks, like it enough to not worry about prices.
“They just go in, they want the experience, they want their coffee, they may look at the price from time-to-time, but unless you actually track prices, you won’t notice the difference,” he says.
And, Charlebois adds, in an increasingly cashless society, Canadians aren’t physically handling money, which might make it easier for companies to implement sudden increases.
