Coffee Shop Pricing Survey

Food service price inflation, i.e. what cafes and coffee shops pay for their ingredients hit 9.8% in March of this year.

So many costs have increased this year, the living wage increase, additional pension contributions, electricity tariff increase, higher business rates, which adds to the impact of the 9.8% increase to the cost of ingredients.

Even though we ran a thriving coffee shop, we had to increase our prices regularly to maintain profitability.

Many things create the fear of putting up prices, number 1 being that all their customers will go elsewhere. It’s because the independent owner is so close to their guests that there is also some embarrassment explaining to the regulars who all think, incorrectly, you are loaded anyway!

Without watching the costs ratios you soon end up with nothing left for yourself at the end of the month, and perversely the businesses that are struggling the most are the ones with the most significant resistance to raising their prices.

When wearing our principal hat as coffee shop consultants, we see the real fear in the eyes of our clients when we tell them they are too cheap.

Last month we asked our readers to complete a straightforward 2 question survey about when was the last time they put up their prices or did a competitor price check.

48 % said they had put up their prices in the last six months, but 19% said they had never put up their prices.

The confidence to charge more improves when you have more pride in what you sell.

When your menu has a uniqueness and a great story to tell your guests and if your hospitality and ambience match, they will enjoy their experience so become prepared to pay a little bit more.

The prices you charge are driven by much more than just the input prices or your rent; they are a factor of your businesses position in the local market.

The businesses we work with are often successful from the outside but fail to deliver the lifestyle the owner imagined before they opened their doors.

An independent coffee shop is a complicated business, and the owner often finds themselves working shifts as well as everything else, burning them out, preventing them from making the changes needed.

Our 6 Step Profit Improvement Programme 'PIP' gives owners the tools they need to develop a unique position that will free them from worrying about what they charge and focus them on the key issues that will bring them success.

If you want to be PIP'ed or know of anyone who would needs drop us a line