Starbucks Korea raises prices amid ‘consistently soaring’ costs

Starbucks operates more than 1,900 outlets across 82 South Korean cities | Photo credit: Starbucks

Starbucks Korea has announced sweeping beverage price rises following ‘consistently soaring costs’ facing coffee operators in the country. 
 

The premium coffee chain announced on its website that the price of its grande (16oz) and venti (20oz) cup sizes increased by ₩300 ($0.22) and ₩600 ($0.44) respectively on 2 August 2024. 

“It is inevitable to raise prices due to consistently soaring costs. We have been internally absorbing factors for price increases both domestically and internationally, but we have decided to adjust the prices as various direct and indirect costs continue to accumulate,” Starbucks Korea said in a statement. 

Starbucks Korea has also increased the price of beverage customisations, as well as its packaged wholebean and instant coffee retail ranges. 

The coffee chain previously raised all in-store beverage prices by up to ₩300 ($0.22) in January 2022. 
 

The announcement comes as the price of arabica and robusta coffee globally continues to rise, with robusta coffee reaching a 45-year high in April 2024 following unusually dry conditions in Vietnam – the world’s largest producer of robusta. 
 

Starbucks opened its first store in South Korea in 1999 at Ewha Womans University and now operates more than 1,900 outlets across 82 cities in the East Asian country – its fourth largest market behind the US, China and Japan. 

Starbucks Korea is majority owned by retail giant E-mart, which added an additional 17.5% stake to its original 50% ownership of the coffee chain in January 2022 for a reported $411m. The remaining 32.5% stake is held by Singapore sovereign wealth fund, GIC. 

The coffee chain’s revenues reached ₩2.9trn ($2.1bn) in 2023.