Why Is My Coffee So Expensive!?
You can't just wake up, crazy hair, bad breath, pillow wrinkles on your face..... you need to face the world alert, ready and able to speak with other humans. So, you hop in your car and head to the nearest Timmies for a drive thru double-double. Great.... you get a cup of joe for two bucks and continue on with your day.
Fast forward to your afternoon coffee break at the local coffee shop down the street. You order your coffee and BAM!! ..... $7.00 for your 2pm re-fuel. What happened?! Did the coffee commodities market spike in a five hour time frame? Are you being ripped off? Nope, the simple truth is, you didn't order the same product. Here's the skinny on why your artisan coffee shop serves a more expensive coffee:
Coffee Beans - There are many different shades of beans, different qualities, different regions of the globe, and varying levels of social and environmental responsibility. Just like any other product on the market, there are cheap items and there are expensive items. Equating coffee beans to cars, (everyone knows cars, right?) the larger chains and greasy-spoons of the world are driving a Dodge. They get you to where you're going, but that's about it. Mass produced, inexpensive, and marketed to those who want a basic ride.
Now think about the Third Wave, super-cool, flashy coffee shops. These guys are driving the Lambos, the Ferraris, and the Bentleys of the world. Coffee beans are produced in limited quantities by artisan growers, hand-picked, babied, and grown with both environmentally and socially responsible methods. While these beans cost more to purchase, they are of higher quality and support the financial and physical well-being of the communities at origin.
***Pro Tip*** If a coffee shop proudly markets "100 percent Arabica Beans", be wary of the quality of your coffee. This is like a hotel proudly advertising "Colour TV and Hot Water". These things should be redundant and to advertise these may show that they are serving the very base level of product.
Equipment and Training - At Bean Scene, new staff do not operate the espresso machine or grinders until they have at least 80 hours of training on the equipment (I cannot tell you how often we have hired staff with years of barista experience who know very little about their craft). This training is coupled with espresso and coffee theory, palette conditioning, and an overview of the innards of the gear. Our staff must understand how their tools work and the effect those tools have on the final product being served. While some training is provided by entry level and chain coffee shops, their general focus is on how to use the administrative tools of the POS system and their facility-focused procedures...... not on actually understanding the coffee itself.
Third Wave coffee equipment is a world unto itself. While an entry-level commercial espresso machine may cost around $5,000 high caliber machines can cost between $20,000 and $30,000. Each grinder may cost up to $4000. This price difference brings us back to the Lambo vs. Dodge analogy... You don't win races in your 1978 Dodge Omni.
Alternative Milks - The world is changing and many people don't like the idea of using animals to help make their flat white. With the addition of alternative milks such as oat or almond, comes a dramatic increase in cost. As of now, a four litre jug of milk will cost somewhere around $6 while a one litre tetra pack of oat milk is the same price. That's 4 times the price to make the same drink! The demand for alternative milks has sky-rocketed in the past five years necessitating an increase in the price of the final product. While that effects our pocket books, our furry four-legged friends enjoy a longer and happier life, and our planet takes less of a beating.
Environment - I'm not talking about the planet, I'm talking about the vibe of the shop itself. Third Wave coffee generally puts it's concentration into training and quality. The big chains will have 12 huge screens scrolling through all of the high margin items they want you to purchase, and staff will be trained on how to upsell you into buying a cookie, a t-shirt, and an espresso machine with your latte. Everything is focused on quarterly earnings. Third wave shops want the product and aesthetic to speak for themselves. Screw the TV screens, the invasive marketing, and the "corporate-approved" and scripted customer greeting . If you serve a perfect product in an awesome environment with competent and friendly staff, people will come back and profits will happen.
Now, these are only a few of the reasons why your local Third Wave shop serves a pricier cup of coffee. Consider that while the price of a drip coffee may be marginally more expensive (maybe 25 - 50 cents more), every time you say another word when ordering your coffee.... "large, almond milk, caramel, extra shot, no-foam latte" you will incur the costs of all that goes into that drink. The training, the equipment, the responsibility, and the professionalism all contribute to a more refined experience. In my humble opinion, you should really come to love the purity of the coffee being served in a perfect cappuccino, a decadent traditional macchiato, or a deep americano. All that other stuff just clouds the artistry of a well trained barista. If you still like all that other stuff, no worries... we got you fam!