Amid persistent high inflation, the prices of budget coffees are rising one after another.

While the absolute increase is only a few hundred won, given that consumers view price as the most important factor when choosing budget coffee, a price hike of over 10% is expected to weigh heavily 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 iced Americano small size will increase from 1,200 won to 1,400 won, up 16.7%, and the medium size will increase from 1,600 won to 1,800 won, up 12.5%.

The iced decaf Americano will also rise from 1,900 won to 2,100 won for the small size and from 2,300 won to 2,500 won for the medium size, both recording an increase rate close to 10%.

Mammoth Coffee stated, "Despite rising raw material costs, we have maintained existing prices by internally absorbing the upward pressure to minimize the burden on customers," adding, "As recent instabilities in international relations and rising overall costs continue, we were inevitably forced to adjust our prices."

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

Mega MGC Coffee raised the prices of three Hal-Mega Coffee items by 200 won each last month, and The Venti increased 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 some items by 200 to 300 won recently.

When the Korea Consumer Agency asked 1,600 consumers early this year about the most important factor considered when using budget coffee, "price reasonableness" was cited by 37.2%, which is double the 19.2% recorded for "coffee taste." As price competitiveness, which has driven the growth of budget coffee brands, weakens, concerns are rising that consumers may turn away.

Reported by Kim Taewon | Video Editing by Jang Yu-jin | Design by Yook Do-hyun | Produced by SBS Digital News