Starbucks says higher
drink prices are due to higher costs of doing business.
Starbucks raised
prices Tuesday on some drinks and says it lowered prices on others, in four
regions including the Pacific Northwest.
"As part of our
regular review of pricing, some prices went up and some went down," said
spokesman Alan Hilowitz.
The changes are a
result of "business conditions, commodities costs, occupancy costs,
competitive reasons and geography," he said. It is unrelated to Starbucks
deciding last week to end a $1.50 fee for whole-bean coffee purchases under a
pound, the result of a consumer-rights investigation in Massachusetts.
People have been
talking in email and on the websitewww.StarbucksGossip.com about Tuesday's increases — which
appear to be in the 10- to 20-cent range, but not any decreases.
Hilowitz did not have
examples of decreases, but said the price of Starbucks' most popular drink, a
16-ounce brewed coffee, stayed the same.
Other areas that saw
price changes were Southern California, parts of the Midwest including Chicago,
and Hawaii, Hilowitz said.
Starbucks last raised
drink prices a year ago. CEO Howard Schultz said this year the chain was
"trying desperately" not to raise drink prices across the board to
counteract the high cost of coffee.
In March, it raised
the price on whole-bean coffee sold in grocery stores by 12 percent, and in
July the same coffee sold in cafes by 17 percent.
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Melissa Allison:
206-464-3312 ormallison@seattletimes.com. On Twitter
@AllisonSeattle.
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