Starbucks CEO shows how 'out of touch' he is when defending chain's ridiculous price of coffee
By: Martha Williams (Mail Online)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The Starbucks CEO has been branded out of touch after claiming a $9 cup of coffee is an 'affordable premium experience.'
Brian Niccol offered an interesting defense of the company's costly menu, which comes as many Americans continue to struggle to pay bills or fill up with gas.
'What we're seeing is that people want to have a special experience, and regardless of what your income level is, in some cases a $9 experience does feel like you're splurging,' Niccol told the Wall Street Journal. 'What that means is that we have to make it worthwhile.'
'People believe "this is a really affordable premium experience", because they're saying "well it's less than $10 and I get a really premium experience",' he added.
The CEO, who joined the company in September 2024, said that what makes the drinks worth the splurge is having a great seat in the cafe, or a 'great moment of connection' with the barista.
Niccol's remarks were met with outrage online. A user on X wrote: 'How out of touch could a person possibly be?'
Another said, 'This guy needs to live on the median US income for a year and buy his own lattes every day.'
Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol says a $9 cup of coffee is 'an affordable premium experience'
Niccol suggested that what makes the drinks worth the splurge is having a great seat in the cafe
A 'great moment of connection' with the barista was also cited by Niccol
Starbucks has made plenty of changes since Niccol, who was previously CEO of Chipotle, joined.
Niccol launched the Back to Starbucks campaign, aimed at restoring the company's 'community coffeehouse' feel.
Key differences are said to include a simpler menu, removing non-dairy milk upcharges, returning condiment bars, restoring handwritten names on cups, improving in-store service, and adding comfortable seating.
The CEO shared some of his strategies, aimed at cutting service time down to four minutes and improving the customer experience during an earnings call in October.
While he committed to simplifying the coffee chain's 'overly complex' menu by cutting 30 percent of its offerings, customers continue to be overwhelmed by choice.
Starbucks began offering 'protein' coffees in September, hopping on the dietary trend that many chains are adopting amid widespread GLP-1 use.
The company also continues to introduce an abundance of seasonal options - which, this spring, have consisted of the Iced Ube Coconut Cream Shaken Espresso, Iced Mango Cream Chai/Matcha, and Mango Strawberry Refreshers.
Niccol launched the Back to Starbucks campaign, aimed at restoring the company's 'community coffeehouse' feel
Niccol committed to simplifying the coffee chain's 'overly complex' menu by cutting 30 percent of its offerings
Foreign competitors - including Luckin Coffee - are entering the scene with cheap options and stealing customers from the Seattle-based coffeehouse
Many fast-food chains - such as McDonald's, Taco Bell, and Burger King - have developed new value menu items to align with what Americans are able to budget for in a time of economic turbulence. Starbucks, however, has not hopped on this trend.
Meanwhile, foreign competitors are entering the scene with cheap options and stealing customers from the Seattle-based coffeehouse.
Chinese chains Luckin Coffee and Mixue both recently touched down in the United States, offering Americans refreshments for far lower prices.
The business model employed by Luckin offers customers steep discounts on handcrafted beverages through codes and deals on its app, while most of Mixue's menu items are priced below $3 to begin with.
This is a stark contrast to Starbucks' offerings, which are very rarely - if ever - under $3.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Starbucks for comment.
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charge more money and tell everyone how special it is -
Judging by the lines I have seen at Starbucks, I would think they're buying it.
for about 20 dollars you can buy a bag of starbucks coffee at the grocery store that will make dozens of cups.
Yep! Walmart sells the flavored coffee I like. And I can buy CoffeeMate's caramel latte flavored creamer. I don't need Starbucks or any coffee shop
His PR people must have written that stuff for him.
Have never been to a Starbucks. Grind my own Blue Mountain beans and brew in perfect water at a perfect temperature in a perfectly clean system. Make my own coffee 'tea bags' for when I'm backpacking on the trail. No sense in not having perfect coffee at one tenth the price.
If this is what you’re drinking, then you’re just going to have to pay whatever they charge. But if you just want good coffee, buy a machine. It will likely make better coffee than you’d get at Starbucks.
The last few times I did get a Starbucks the coffee tasted burnt
A sign of dirty pots that don't get cleaned often enough.
my granny was a member of the electric percolator cult that never let dish soap touch it for it's entire lifespan. we used to joke that if she ever ran out of coffee she only needed to add water to it ...
Starbucks CEO shows how 'out of touch' he is
Are you saying that's a fact-- or an opinion?
(I'm assuming you know the difference).
is always an opinion. doesnt mean its wrong.
I enjoy Sheetz coffee and the price
WaWa, lol, and the price
we are getting a WaWa, it will be across from the Starbucks
Welcome to the future.
I have a Breville Espresso machine and a Baratza Vario+ grinder. I have found these to be excellent machines. Excellent espresso pulls based on a perfect grind.
I think what we can make with these machines is at least as good as Starbucks'.
And with the number of espresso drinks we make each day, this is the only way to go. Starbucks is extraordinarily expensive.
I totally agree.
That being said, there are many people who love going there.
I stopped in on a long trip, even my car was telling me to stop. I got a $2.45 cup of extra, and I was awake for 18 hours.
I am a Starbucks customer when traveling.
since extreme frugalness influences all my buying decisions, I've never been in a starbucks or up to a drive thru window of one, but they are my go-to choice as a gift card for my daughter. I usually went to dunkin or a mc d's window for coffee back when I was still working, but I had to phase out dunkin when I acquired a 3 blueberry cake donut habit along with their coffee ...
Dunkin is good, but I can buy that and brew it at home.
McDonald's coffee is pretty good.
I take my coffee black, and most Starbucks roasts taste burnt to me unless I add a bunch of cream or sugar that I wouldn't ordinarily want.
I like strong coffee, but I don't like staring at the ceiling at 2am. my usage has diminished significantly in the last few years. I stopped using sugar free french vanilla and switched to milk and honey, since I tend to chug the first 20+ oz just to get my shit together in the morning.
That's why I don't drink coffee after breakfast. That, and I rarely have time during the day, anyway.
20 ounces!! Geez no wonder you were bouncing off the walls..🦘
Right? I'd have jitters and a terrible case of heartburn.
Arvo Sandy...
We have cups and mugs not flipping vats for coffee..
No wonder half you mob are off the planet at times..to much caffeine..🤣
I have everything from a 6 ounce cup up to a 20 ounce travel mug that I think about taking on long trips, until I count the public toilets between here and there.
But my usual is a 12 ounce mug of black coffee with whatever I'm having for breakfast in the morning.
Caffeine plus rage addiction - that's us.
I know how to take the edge off the caffine, cannonball!
tsk, tsk, tsk, another unfair burden of your gender ...
You ain't kiddin'. You fellas can just find a convenient tree. For us gals, no matter how convenient the tree, we're gonna have wet socks.
meh, I'm still a big fan of the newer streamlined version of human 2.0 models ...
Have never been to a Starbucks and can't imagine I'll ever go to one. A nice cup of black coffee from my perculator at home is good enough for me
Morning free.. Starbucks was a massive flop here..
From what I read the coffee was crap and if that's the case they wouldn't survive here..
I am starting my morning with a Robert Tims coffee bag Kenya Mocha and a toasted rye sour dough muffin with the world's greatest spread Vegemite...
Can't get better than that..🦘
... no comment, on a number of unsolicited observations ...
I think I have gone into a Starbucks three times, always with someone who wanted to go there. I thought the coffee was ok , but I dont drink fancy coffees so I wasnt impressed too much with their plain old boring cup.
I have tried the ground coffee Starbucks sells in packages at the grocery stores and I thought it was just fine. Not worth twice the price of the standard ol brand names like Folgers or Maxwell House though.
There's a Starbucks in the Barnes & Noble I like to visit, so I do sometimes go there, but I'll get a pastry and hot chai or cocoa rather than coffee.
Just out of curiosity, do y'all have Tim Horton's down there?
I used to like those mocha frappuccino things... There are no Starbucks location in my little city. I have to cross the bridge and either go up the hill or fight downtown traffic. There is one location up on the hill with a drive thru we do rare treats through when they have pistachio sweet cream.
I've had five 20oz cups of automatic drip coffee between home and the office this morning. I'm probably done for the day. LOL!
I like them, but I can make them at home, and without nearly as much sugar as Starbucks and the like use.
Just my Canadian opinion but Tim's coffee is weak and doesn't taste that good, McDonalds coffee is a big step up in taste
Morning 1st...no we don't have Tim Hortons here..
I had no idea what that was as I watch a lot of YouTube and I noticed Canadians and Brits use to rabbit on about Tim Hortons etc so had to google it...
Australians are very particular when it comes to coffee etc and overseas mobs find it very hard to get established here...most go under...
I prefer to go to the local cafes etc than the big chain mobs..we tend to be very loyal once we find a place with great coffee we stick to it...
holy shit. how far do you live from your job? so much for checking your emails first thing ...
I went there twice. The firsr time I wanted to compare a "plain" coffee-- like I brewed at home (or the take-out kind sold at inexpensive stores. Plain Black coffee with a little milk. IMO it was not much better or worse than other places.
The second time I tried one of their fancy ones--- I didn't really like it.Notthing special and overly-sweet for my taste.
I've changed a lot of habits over the years. I generally only eat (or drink) organic foods. I buy Organic coffee on Amazon. I've tried different methods of brewing it-- now I brew it as "Cold Brew. I find it to be "smoother" and less acidic than proparing by other methods. (And it doesn't require any machine to brew it.)
I feel I don't need sugar or artificial sweetner, but I put in some unsweetened organic Soy Milk.
(Sometimes I use Ceylon (Organic) Cinnamon and/or Organic powdered Ginger. Also gelatinized Maca*, and powdered Lion's Mane Mushroom powder.
*Maca must be "Gelatinized'. Gelatinized Maca can be energizing in a totally non-jittery way.
That's all.
We have started cutting back on things like coffee out. Even lunches at McDonald's are getting to be too expensive for regular stops. We just replaced our Keurig yesterday. The previous one, when brewing a pot, was dripping a quarter of the water onto my cabinet... If I had the cabinet space I could pull out my expresso maker too.
Had Starbucks once - 'bout 4 years ago when the price was "only" $4.50 - and said that's it. Burnt taste, looked like mop water.
Got hooked on Don Francisco's Dark Roast w/cinnamon and their Hawaiian w/hazelnut - get it from Amazon at $22.00/3 cans and am always pleased with its consistency.
Shouldn’t this article just be titled “People are Stupid”?
I think a nine dollar cup of coffee is a little bit of a status symbol, at least in their own minds.
It's Niles and Frazier territory.
I remember a topless donut shop just off the highway next to a northern truck stop 50 years ago that got $5 a cup with a 2 cup minimum. I stopped once, just to say I had. they seemed to do big business. I'm afraid I can't remember anything about their donuts though ...
A lot of good that status will do them when they are old and out of money.
Morning Vangy..geez there is a surprise..🙄
who knew you needed a special license to pour coffee into cups without a shirt on ...
Finally! A cultural reference I get!
I'll work on that, would not want you to get too snooty.
Any LaVazza is the only way to go ... I suspect Italians even taste good.