Starbucks to Raise (and Lower) Prices
August 27, 2009 by Marye Audet
Filed under Coffee News
Did you have to look twice at that title?
Starbucks has announced that it will raise the prices on some popular drinks like Macchiatos and Fraps and lower the prices on coffee and some latte to continue to try to compete in the new economy driven coffee wars with the likes of McDonalds, Sonic, Panera, and others. You can read the whole article at the NY Times.
For a lot of people this is where the rubber will meet the road. I figure three things will happen:
- Customers will try other coffee drinks that are less expensive and decide they are close enough.
- Customers will try other coffee drinks and decide they would rather pay the extra.
- Customers will stick with Starbucks and just drink less.
Or …maybe some of them will start making frappuccinos at home. The thing that I think is funny is that there is always a segment of the population that will think because the Starbucks is more expensive it is going to taste better, which is not necessarily true.
Here’s the deal: People’s tastes are different. Some people drink Maxwell House or Folgers and are completely happy with it. Some of them have tried Starbucks and Peets and Green Mountain and honestly prefer the Maxwell House. Somewhere on the way to the caffeine jitters coffee drinkers turned into snobs and decided that if you don’t like the right coffee you have no taste.
I love me some good coffee. I am also a foodie and I am particular about the tastes I like. Ice Cream? Homemade or Breyers. Despite my almost imperceptible Texas drawl I cannot stand Blue Bell. Ick. The chemicals stomp aross my tastebuds like they were wearing muck boots. Does that mean that everyone that likes Blue Bell has no taste?
Well yeah, it kind of does….
No, of course not. It means that I like what I like.
Whatever Starbucks does, whether it raises or lowers prices? You should be true to what you like. Don’t buy it because it is the cool thing to buy, or because you think it will make you look more sophisticated and knowledgeable – drink it because you like it…and only for that reason.
Image:sxc
As a business move for Starbucks, I think it’s not the PR that they needed right now. However, it’s not going to stop me from getting my favorite calorie and sugar filled drinks.
It’s hard to say Mike. It may be a brilliant move. They are saying,in essence, “we are confident enough in our product to know that we can charge more because it is exclusive and only the most discerning people will buy it.”
A lot of people will be pulled into that. They may pick up MORE customers.
I for one will not continue buying my fraps from starbucks if they raise the prices…as it is the only time i can afford to buy one is when I find the change in the couch cushions or washing machine and save all that change for a month. lol
For me places like Starbucks or Pretzel and Cookie places in the mall aren’t a regular thing. Its a treat on a day out. When we go to the mall, we get a pretzel or cookie and a gumball. Special Christmas or other shopping trips, we get a starbucks. Its not the coffee for me, its the experience/tradition. I will never understand why some people would stop for coffee there every morning because they want to be ‘cool’. Its not worth it.