Life coffee cost of living starbucks

The Starbucks CEO has defended the $9 price tag for a coffee, saying people are paying for “the experience”, and it has a latte people foaming at the mouth

Michael White. Updated May 2nd, 2026

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Who’d be the CEO of a huge multinational food chain these days?

First we had the McDonald’s CEO, Chris Kempczinski, going viral for appearing to struggle through eating a Big Mac on camera.

Now, we have Starbucks CEO, Brian Niccol, getting roasted for trying to justify the $9 (£6.60) cost of a customised coffee at the chain.

Niccol told the Wall Street Journal’s What’s News AM podcast that, while a simple coffee costs around $3, the price can go up to $9 if you customise it with syrups etc or.

He said:

“What we’re seeing is people, they 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. And then what that means is we have to make it worthwhile. And then in other cases, people believe, ‘Well, this is a really affordable premium experience’, because they’re saying like, ‘Well, it’s less than $10 and I get a really premium experience’.

“When we’ve spent the time talking to customers, what is it that you’re looking for in your experience? They do talk about how they use their Starbucks experience as a moment of escapism. And my hope is we get more than our fair share of all those occasions. We can focus on when you walk into our stores, you feel warm, you feel welcomed, you feel like this is your place. We can control our ability to get you that exact drink at the speed at what you need it, at the speed of what you want it. And then we also can open up a great seat where if you want to stay and dwell with us, we got that for you too.”

As you might expect, Niccol has been attacked for being “tone deaf” in the face of rising cost of living pressures, but others put the blame on the customers.

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Source: Twitter/X/WallStreetApes