Starbucks Raising Coffee Prices For 'Labor-Intensive' Drinks

by Amy Judd | September 23, 2010 at 11:03 am

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Due to an Increase in Price of Green Arabica Coffee, Starbucks is Raising the Price on Some Larger and 'Labor-Intensive' Drinks

They have not released what those price raises will be, but the company issued a press release on Wednesday stating that the increase in green Arabica coffee, dairy products, sugar and cocoa have caused the coffee prices to increase too.

They will maintain the price of their tall coffee drinks and packaged coffees, but they will be implementing 'targeted price' adjustments on certain beverages and those could differ depending on the market. Those beverages could be more labor-intensive to make and will be of the bigger sizes.

However, they have not ruled out the possibility that the coffee sold in grocery stores and other outlets may see a price increase.

“Over the last six months a highly speculative green coffee market and dramatically increased commodity costs have completely altered the economic and financial picture of many players in the coffee industry,” said Howard Schultz, Starbucks chairman, president and CEO.

Starbucks wants to lower or maintain the price of some of their more popular espresso beverages but have not yet announced what those may be. They expect to keep their tall brewed coffee at around $1.50 in the U.S. market.