A tall coffee at Starbucks is going to cost you trenta.
The popular coffee chain has raised its prices at nearly 8,000 U.S. locations by anywhere from 10 cents to 20 cents. That’s the third increase in three years.
A 12-ounce “tall” brewed coffee will now cost between $1.95 and $2.15, depending on location. (Prices on other popular Starbucks beverages have largely stayed the same.)
A company official says the increase had nothing to do with the recent decision to close all stores on May 29 for employee anti-bias training after two black men were arrested for waiting in a Philadelphia Starbucks. Instead, normal inflation was cited as the reason.
“Starbucks continually evaluates pricing on a product-by-product and market-by-market basis,” the company said in a statement to Fortune. “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. Beverage and food prices vary by location and customers can find pricing posted in store or through our mobile app. In the past year, Starbucks increased prices 1 – 2 % which is on par with the industry practices and is in line with food away from home inflation.”
The heftier prices come just two days after CEO Howard Schultz announced plan to step down, amid rumors he is considering a presidential campaign.
This isn’t the first time Starbucks (SBUX) has slipped in a price increase. In 2016, the company raised prices 48 hours after the U.S. presidential election, bumping the price of select cold brews, cold drinks and baked goods by 10 to 30 cents. (That followed other increases earlier in the year.)
And last year, Starbucks raised brewed coffee prices by 10 cents to 20 cents on select sizes, while espresso prices jumped 10-30 cents.
As for this most recent increase, customers (predictably) are none too happy about it.
https://twitter.com/packman360/status/1004143766016548867
@Starbucks why did my Tall regular morning coffee go up 10% ? No one at the store seems to know “it’s what the register rings up” ?? The Grande & Venti regular Coffee DID NOT go up. Zero notice of price increase + NO regular coffee prices displayed anywhere #Unacceptable
— MichaelJHill (@MichaelJHill) June 7, 2018
@jimcramer No mention of the big Starbucks price increase? Price for a medium coffee increased .22, a 9% increase
— Perry DiMarco (@perrydimarco) June 5, 2018
.@Starbucks I think it’s finally gone too far. Today’s price increase makes my small, plain cup of coffee more expensive than my train ride to work. Time to move on. #itsnotmeitsyou #priceincrease #breakup #coffeebreak #starbuckscoffee
— Leah Jakubowski (@ljakub01) June 5, 2018
In its most recent earnings, Starbucks reported net income of $660 million. Investors, though, have been unhappy with the chain’s growth. Year to date, shares in the company are down 10%.
