Lately, the media has painted Aussie coffee drinkers as tight-fisted misers, refusing to pay a cent more than $4.50 for their daily latte. They make it sound like consumers are one price rise away from mass revolt.
But let’s be real — that’s not the Australia we know.
Australians are coffee lovers, café dwellers, and community builders. The café culture isn’t just about caffeine; it’s an integral part of our way of life. We don’t just grab a coffee and swallow — we sit, we savour, we chat, we connect. We appreciate a perfectly crafted flat white, the silky microfoam on a latte, the skill of a barista who knows our name and our order.
And we’re happy to pay for it.
CAFÉ OWNERS — DON’T YIELD TO INTIMIDATION
The real issue isn’t that Aussies won’t pay more — it’s that café owners have been intimidated into thinking they can’t charge what their product is worth. The fear of backlash, stirred up by media doom-and-gloom, has left them absorbing skyrocketing costs in silence.
Meanwhile, rents are soaring, wages are rising, milk and coffee bean prices have surged, and yet café owners are still hesitating to nudge their prices up — driving themselves into financial pain in the process.
And what happens when cafés can’t make ends meet? They shut down.
That’s the last thing Aussie coffee lovers want.
THE TRUTH: QUALITY IS WORTH PAYING FOR
Why do we quite happily pay $13 for a pint of beer in a pub when we could pay a fraction of the price at the bottleshop and drink it at home? Why do we pay $23 for Eggs Benedict at brunch when we could prepare it together at home for much less? Why? Because we understand we’re paying for more than just the product — we’re paying for the experience. That’s what hospitality is!
Coffee is no different.
When a latte is made with exceptional beans, extracted to perfection, and served in a warm, welcoming space — it’s worth more than $4.50.
The reality is, most people would happily pay $5.50 or $6 for a truly great coffee in a great café. Not for a mediocre lacklustre takeaway from an automatic vending machine in a servo. But for something special? Absolutely.
IT’S TIME TO SAVE OUR INDUSTRY
Cafés, we get it—you don’t want to lose customers. But trust your community. Trust the coffee culture that has shaped this country. Charge what you need to charge to survive and thrive.
Aussie coffee drinkers aren’t going anywhere. We love our cafés. We value great coffee. And we want to see our local spots flourish—not close their doors under the weight of unsustainable pricing.
Let’s get sensible, drop the media panic, and keep our specialty coffee industry strong.
Who’s with me? 👊☕ #SupportYourLocal #SpecialtyCoffee #FairPriceForGreatCoffee
More reading?
Check out ‘Selecting The Ideal Coffee Blend For Your Cafe – The Cost-Quality Connection’
