Is Starbucks about to fall apart? Why is Coffee so pricey anyways?

Question

This thing with $4/gallon gas is not so bad, but why should we be paying $1.65 for a cup of coffee when it costs 30 cents top to make including the cup? That works out to over $16/gallon for 12oz coffee! Should coffee be FOUR times more expensive than gas?? I use to get coffee for a buck and they had the NY Times handy to read while I drank it. Now even Dunkin Donuts is charging over $1.50 for a small for weak coffee. Thanks Starbucks! It's sad when McDonalds can be more fair about the price of coffee than some supposedly PC corporation. Starbucks can crash and burn. The coffee is over-roasted, over-rated and over-priced.

Answer 1

coffee is nasty

Answer 2

I wondered how long it would take them to fall.  I am with you.  I think it is so stupid to charge so much for a cup of coffee.

What about buying drinks at a resturant, even mcDonald's.  That is what runs up the meal ticket.  Anymore we buy our pop (seperately -on sale)) and then get a take out from those places when we want them.Their specials might make the meal cheap but the price of drinks are terrible.

Answer 3

As long as people are shelling out the dough, how can it be unfair?

Your basic principles in determining the cost of anything are supply and demand. Coffee is more expensive to grow on the Kona coast of the island of Hawaii than it is in Colombia because everything is more expensive in Kona. Therefore, the growers in Kona won't sell below a certain price.

But the thing with Starbucks is largely a matter of demand-pulled inflation. Starbucks is able to charge more for their coffee because people will pay more for their coffee, for whatever reason. In spite of the fact that the stores seem to be everywhere, they follow the daily movements of people in a certain income bracket.

McDonald's, on the other hand, has a wider consumer base and a long-established reputation for inexpensive food of consistent quality. It has more people coming into more stores on a daily basis, and can make a profit by selling many cups of coffee at a lower price.

Neither company strikes me as more politically correct than the other. Each has both positive and negative aspects in terms of their impact on communities.

Answer 4

Since coffee is a legal drug, Starbucks is not about to go bust. McDonald's actually serves coffee from one of the world's best coffee roasters. Buy it for delivery at home for the freshest, tastiest, and most economical brew you can get.

Answer 5

You're naive. Starbucks is clearly a status symbol which many people will not hesitate to pay for. Factoring in the cost of transportation, trade tariffs, and profit--the cost of a cup of coffee is not too expensive all things considered. If you simply do not like buying expensive coffee, then just go make your own.