Coffee purveyor increases average price by about 1% to cover rising wages, rent
By
JULIE JARGON
July 6, 2015 2:02 p.m. ET
Starbucks Corp. is raising prices slightly on some of its beverages to cover rising costs including wages and rent, even as prices for raw coffee have been falling.
The Seattle company, like other coffee purveyors, often raises prices for its products when coffee prices increase, but the latest move comes despite a decline of about 42% in Arabica futures prices from a peak late last year. The increase, which takes effect Tuesday, will increase the cost of the average customer order by about 1%, Starbucks said. Bagged coffee won’t be affected.
The increase comes from an overall need to manage business costs, including labor and rent expenses, a Starbucks spokeswoman said.
“Our pricing philosophy is to balance our need to run our business effectively while providing maximum value to our customers,” she said.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/starbucks-raises-prices-despite-declining-coffee-costs-1436205612
