Budget Coffee Brands Raise Prices, Stoking Consumer Concerns Amid Persistent Inflation

As high inflation persists, budget coffee brands are raising their prices one after another.

Although the absolute price increases amount to only a few hundred won, price is considered the most important factor for consumers when choosing budget coffee. Therefore, price hikes exceeding 10 percent are expected to place a heavy burden on consumers.

Coffee franchise Mammoth Coffee announced that it will raise the price of its iced Americano by 200 won starting on the 11th of next month.

By product, the small-sized iced Americano will increase from 1,200 won to 1,400 won, a 16.7 percent hike, while the medium size will rise from 1,600 won to 1,800 won, a 12.5 percent increase.

The small-sized iced decaf Americano will go up from 1,900 won to 2,100 won, and the medium size from 2,300 won to 2,500 won, both recording increases of nearly 10 percent.

Mammoth Coffee stated, "Despite rising raw material and ingredient costs, we have maintained our existing prices by internally absorbing the cost pressures to minimize the burden on customers. However, as recent instability in international affairs and rising overall expenses continue, we have inevitably adjusted our prices."

The problem is that not only Mammoth Coffee, but other budget coffee franchises are also raising their prices sequentially.

Mega MGC Coffee raised the prices of three Halmegakcoffee items by 200 won each last month, while The Venti raised the prices of major beverages, excluding Americanos, by 100 to 500 won last May.

Other budget coffee brands such as Paik's Coffee and Banapresso have similarly raised the prices of certain items by 200 to 300 won recently.

When the Korea Consumer Agency surveyed 1,600 consumers early this year on the most important factor considered when using budget coffee, 37.2 percent cited "price appropriateness," which is nearly double the 19.2 percent for "coffee taste." As a result, concerns are rising that consumers may turn away as the price competitiveness that has driven the growth of budget coffee brands weakens.

Reported by Kim Taewon | Video by Jang Yu-jin | Graphics by Yook Do-hyun | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.