Ludicrous Charges on Coffee in Ireland

!MAVERICK!

Went into Starbucks on Dawson street once, They don't put prices on their specials. They had advertised a cake and a latte on the posters but no price , I was thinking it would of been the best value so i went for it.

Girl asks for 5 euro , I ask wheres the pastry, She replies The latte is 5 euro and the cake is 3.50 extra!

This was one of the most ridiculous buys ive ever encountered, I could imagine the cost to make the coffee was around 20-50 cent, and they charge 5 quid.
Never going back to Starbucks ever! not in this country anyway!

Cafes make more profits on coffee than bars do on alcohol.

ejmaztec

!MAVERICK! wrote: »

Went into Starbucks.

That was your first mistake.

cashback

Did you ask for a bucket?! Hmmm, I find it hard to believe a latte could be €5.

Davidth88

I must admit I do find coffee in this country a total rip off

The average cost of an expresso is around 2-2.50 euro ( or so it seems to me )

How on earth can that be ?

I tend to only drink coffee now when I travel to Italy ( which I do quite a bit ) the cost of an expresso there ranges from 50c ( in your cheap place in a back street ) to 1 euro in Rome Airport

If Rome airport ( where costs will be somewhat equivilant I imagine to a high street here , although maybe wages may be higher ) can charge 1 euro ..... why oh why do we get charged 2- 2.50 euro for it has to be said a much poorer product.

I suppose it ' what the market will take '

Well OP you should take heart that Starbucks I believe are cutting back on branches etc , although feel for the poor guys/girls losing their jobs.

Joey the lips

Your not paying for the coffee but for the location and demand. Thats why stat oil and the likes only charge 2 euro. A coffee grower in brazil or elsewhere gets 2c per cup of coffee. Thats american cents not european.

Hank_Jones

€5 isn't so bad, they have to mix water with coffee beans and a bit of milk, it's an extremely hard process that takes minutes of training in order for the staff to be competent, how isn't that worth a fiver?

uglyjohn

starbucks seem to change drink prices very little when they change currency, im pretty sure its about $3 aus here for a drink that was $3 euro at home. i noticed something similar when i was in the state a while back. i dont know if the same is true in the uk but it is shocking to think that between the euro, us$ and aus$ they have hardly changed the price listing.

but yeah, starbucks is a rip off.

mcaul

Davidth88 wrote: »

I must admit I do find coffee in this country a total rip off

The average cost of an expresso is around 2-2.50 euro ( or so it seems to me )

How on earth can that be ?

I tend to only drink coffee now when I travel to Italy ( which I do quite a bit ) the cost of an expresso there ranges from 50c ( in your cheap place in a back street ) to 1 euro in Rome Airport

If Rome airport ( where costs will be somewhat equivilant I imagine to a high street here , although maybe wages may be higher ) can charge 1 euro ..... why oh why do we get charged 2- 2.50 euro for it has to be said a much poorer product.

I suppose it ' what the market will take '

Well OP you should take heart that Starbucks I believe are cutting back on branches etc , although feel for the poor guys/girls losing their jobs.

The probelm with coffee house / fast food places is that the prime costs involved are staff, rent, rates & insurance. The cost of the raw material is a very small part of the overall cost of the product you are buying.

Minimum wage in fast food / coffee shops here is €9.32 per hour + employer prsi (approx. 10%). Rents are still high as are rates (€16,000 dublin city rates for 500 sq ft on College Green!).

Whereas in Italy the costs are substantially lower.

In real terms the prices here are about average is you use the Economists's big mac index as a basis. - This works out how long an average worker must work to receive the after tax amount to purchase a big mac. On this index, Ireland comes about 10th cheapest in the world! - The problem is that many tourists especially those from the UK & eastern Europe don't earn anywhere near what Irish people earn!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mac_Index

stimpson

nonsense - it's profiteering. 3rd Floor Espresso in the Twisted Pepper on Abbey St. are able to do an espresso for under a euro. And it's run by the Irish Barrista Champion.

Davidth88

mcaul wrote: »

The probelm with coffee house / fast food places is that the prime costs involved are staff, rent, rates & insurance. The cost of the raw material is a very small part of the overall cost of the product you are buying.

Minimum wage in fast food / coffee shops here is €9.32 per hour + employer prsi (approx. 10%). Rents are still high as are rates (€16,000 dublin city rates for 500 sq ft on College Green!).

Whereas in Italy the costs are substantially lower.

Hi,

Indeed , that's why I used the example from Rome Airport , where I expect the costs are huge ( rent etc ) I agree almost certainly the staff are not earning the same.

It's a shame the coffee here is total rubbish, but I suppose that's because the average person here if presented with a ' real ' expresso would ask for some more ( as in it's very very short )

Fajitas!

Davidth88 wrote: »

I tend to only drink coffee now when I travel to Italy ( which I do quite a bit ) the cost of an expresso there ranges from 50c ( in your cheap place in a back street ) to 1 euro in Rome Airport.

Espresso.

/caffeine pedant

But yes, I do agree. If you're to break down the costs of the coffee, it does cost very little, for a well made latte, etc, then yes, you're paying the extra cost of for labour involved, but still, 2.50 should be the very, very most for one.

nonsense - it's profiteering. 3rd Floor Espresso in the Twisted Pepper on Abbey St. are able to do an espresso for under a euro. And it's run by the Irish Barrista Champion.

And it's a lovely little place. The chap running it is on Boards.ie too. The coffee prices there are probably the most realistic I've seen in years, and you're getting a lovely coffee. It's win-win.

I was ranting about this a while back, I was in the Conrad hotel just before Christmas, working at a corporate event, I popped out for a macchiato, and was charged the rather enormous sum of €4.20 for it... The coffee was rotten, and it was poorly made.

I commented on it, but it didn't phase the staff too much tbh.

mike kelly

!MAVERICK! wrote: »

Went into Starbucks on Dawson street once, They don't put prices on their specials. They had advertised a cake and a latte on the posters but no price , I was thinking it would of been the best value so i went for it.

Girl asks for 5 euro , I ask wheres the pastry, She replies The latte is 5 euro and the cake is 3.50 extra!

This was one of the most ridiculous buys ive ever encountered, I could imagine the cost to make the coffee was around 20-50 cent, and they charge 5 quid.
Never going back to Starbucks ever! not in this country anyway!

Cafes make more profits on coffee than bars do on alcohol.

Did they put bourbon in that latte?

Davidth88

So many places here use automatic machines to make ' Coffee ' .... horrible muck

Fajitas!

Thanks for the correction , you are right of course , unless you drink it on a non-stop Dublin bus :-)

BendiBus

stimpson wrote: »

3rd Floor Espresso in the Twisted Pepper on Abbey St.

Where on Abbey St is that?

gerrycollins

Davidth88 wrote: »

So many places here use automatic machines to make ' Coffee ' .... horrible muck

Fajitas!

Thanks for the correction , you are right of course , unless you drink it on a non-stop Dublin bus :-)

which machines specfically?

the ones that are the size of a portable TV and turn out instant coffee or the larger ones that actually use coffee beans.

A machine that uses coffee beans, if it makes 800 cups of coffee a week costs 90c a cup obviously the less it makes it will in turn cost more to make the cup of coffee.

The machines that barista use just the same with a human making them instead of a computer chip. however making a latte or cappucino is another story it does need a human hand in it no machine comes anywhere near a hand made one,however for reg coffee im happy with a machine one from fresh beans.

run_Forrest_run

Davidth88 wrote: »

So many places here use automatic machines to make ' Coffee ' .... horrible muck

if you are referring to the machines where all the staff member does is put the cup under the nozzle and press the relevant button then yes, I hate that and it drives me mad in a bar/cafe when I see them doing it. I once saw it and then told her I didn't want it, got an orange juice or something instead.

Coffee Station in Cork University Maternity Hospital does this but I'll leave them off because the place gets so busy and despite being from a machine it's pretty decent (from Green Bean).

Davidth88

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

if you are referring to the machines where all the staff member does is put the cup under the nozzle and press the relevant button then yes, I hate that and it drives me mad in a bar/cafe when I see them doing it. I once saw it and then told her I didn't want it, got an orange juice or something instead.

Coffee Station in Cork University Maternity Hospital does this but I'll leave them off because the place gets so busy and despite being from a machine it's pretty decent (from Green Bean).

Thanks, Yes these are the machines I am referring to.

You see them in restaurants all the time , they offer fancy coffee at 3-4-5 euro , then you see them walk up to a machine and press a button

It's muck !

Mr Magnolia

BendiBus wrote: »

Where on Abbey St is that?

54 Middle Abbey St. The Twisted Pepper Building I believe?

Best coffee I've had in Dublin.

rubadub

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

if you are referring to the machines where all the staff member does is put the cup under the nozzle and press the relevant button then yes, I hate that and it drives me mad in a bar/cafe when I see them doing it. I once saw it and then told her I didn't want it, got an orange juice or something instead.

Depends on the machine, if it is decent machine you are more likely to get a better coffee than what most staff in places can make. Most are very poorly trained and turn out awful muck. I have tasted excellent coffee from machine which were set up by decent baristas wih decent coffee beans.

gerrycollins wrote: »

however making a latte or cappucino is another story it does need a human hand no machine comes anywhere near a hand made one,however for reg coffee im happy with a machine one from fresh beans.

Aside from well experienced baristas most "human hands" I see destroy the milk, I cringe when you see them heating the milk until they hear it "screaming" and just continue to boil it up.

gerrycollins

rubadub wrote: »

Aside from well experienced baristas most "human hands" I see destroy the milk, I cringe when you see them heating the milk until they hear it "screaming" and just continue to boil it up.

ya most think it has to be full of bubbles and foam to be right when it should be silky smooth