To think that £3.45

[Forwardthinkinglobster]

For 1/2 pint of coke at a pub/restaurant is taking the biscuit? And no, it’s not London (but within 80 miles of)….

I think that’s even a bit steep for a pint, but for 330ml that’s insane!

It's expensive, but so are overheads for pubs at the moment.

Probably missing the point but I was shocked by the price of something when I was home last year.
Every morning I bought a flat white from Starbucks before the gym, no judgment it was the closest thing available to me at 6am it was £3.50....my morning coffee from an independent in Australia is £2......and coffee in the uk is questionable at best, let alone from bloody Starbucks!!!
Frightening stuff.

Agree.

I probably have a coffee in a cafe or takeaway about 6 times a year. ( on holidays). It is very easy to 'bleed' money this way - a daily coffee ☕️ on the way to work x 5 days sees off about £20 per week!

As someone that’s very careful with money we have almost always taken a flask. We do eat out and go for lunch quite often but drinks have always seemed over priced to me.

@mogsrus · Yesterday 18:54

Why people buying stuff from cafes etc are always stunned at the price, when if these same people ran such an establishment, they after doing all the sums , ie rates. power, staff it all adds up, even if the room is empty, the bills still keep coming. Prices are always advertised so if you think it’s outrageous go somewhere else after all no one forced anyone to go in.

Because it never used to be anywhere NEAR that expensive ... It's literally doubled. And yeah their outgoings have risen, as you and a couple of others have mentioned up thread. But the fact is, so has the outgoings of everyone using these businesses! And even though everything's gone up (and we're not stupid, we know that,) these kind of cafes and restaurants (like supermarkets and the like) are charging way, WAY more than they need to.

Yes, we understand that shit has gone up. But it has not just gone up..... It has doubled in many cases. The other week, the government had a watchdog looking into supermarkets and many other businesses, and their overcharging people for food and essentials. And they also looked into the supermarkets overcharging at the petrol pump, and also at the big energy companies and all the money THEY are making... (on gas and electric.)

And as this thread illustrates, we are being massively overcharged at visitor attractions too. God help people with kids! I do NOT know how they are coping. Seriously!

We are being massively overcharged everywhere. As I say, I know stuff needs to go up, but not as much, and we ARE being mugged off and conned by many people/companies we buy from. That's a hill I will die on.

As I said,* *everything's gone up for me and everybody else too you know!! All the single mums, and the pensioners, and the couples with kids, and the couples and singles without kids, all the uni students, etc etc. We've ALL got a rise in our electric and our gas and our rent and our mortgage rates and our food and our water rates and our council tax, and petrol, and everything else as well.

Where are WE going to get the extra money from to pay double what we paid before the cost of living crisis? Mine and DH's income has only increased by about 5% in the past 3 years since the cost of living crisis started. Yet lots of stuff has doubled, or gone up at least 40-50%. YOU do the math.

Do you seriously think we should keep forking out £14-15 for 2 cookies and 2 cappuccinos just because 'their overheads have increased...?' LOL, not a chance. As I said, we're not made of money! And OUR outgoings have increased massively too.

You can't tell me that they need to charge this much. I don't mind doing my bit for small businesses, but I'm not made of money, and will only ever buy a coffee or cappuccino when I am out now. l take my own snacks/ sandwiches/ fruit/crisps etc.

Ultimately people will vote with their feet. My mum always meets a friend for coffee and cake once a week. They used to go to places like Costa, now they go to Greggs. She told me for the 2 of them, coffee and cake, £6. Greggs has overheads too. They also have to pay for staff, utilities, etc etc. So I do have to question why other chains, such as Costa, are charging so much more. I do think COL is being used as a convenient reason for some businesses to charge higher and higher costs.

I took my children to Morrisons cafe the other day. We split one adults meal and one child’s meal between use and I bought a bottle of water and took three glasses and an extra plate. I thought I was being cheeky but another mum came in with 7 children, older than mine so we’re eating adults meals and she gave out cans of pop she had bought in the store

The staff didn’t bat an eyelid because the cafe was pretty empty

ice creams are also very expensive

Mind you very reasonable when I went to Cromer

Don't go to Joe and the juice then. I paid for 3 drinks and it was over £15. Fifteen! I don't know how these places are so full of people.

Even Tesco / Sainsburies etc charge over a pound for a can or bottle of coke. The independent newsagents are cheaper for that kind of thing.

The soft drinks on tap are syrup mixed with carbonated water, it's bordering on criminal to charge that much. DHs family run a pub and for sure there a tonne of charges I wouldn't have considered before and its hard times out there for hospitality; but they're always busy whilst similar pubs in the town are struggling, and it's because prices are reasonable.

Soft drinks for example do not cost much at all, many companies actually loan the equipment for free as long as you buy your syrups from them, and they aren't expensive- if you factor in all overheads you can still sell these drinks for a fair price and make a return. Even for the glass bottles you get a nice return (giving people the choice is good and you'll find some in a group will opt for the bottles). Once people are in they're likely to buy other stuff too, and they will remember the place when it comes to planning lunch or meet ups and recommend to friends. Having a full house will always make more money than having hardly any customers but charging them more to try and make up costs.

Cost of actual drink, use of glass, staff to make drink, washing up, place to sit.

It all adds up

A half a draft cider and two soft drinks cost me £12.90 in a local (nowt upmarket) pub last night.

Partly smaller, cheaper premises and partly volume. I've just looked it up - there are 29 Greggs in Newcastle for example witth cheap rents, and relatively few in central London. My town has 3 but only one has seating - 3 or 4 tables. Really, it's a takeaway brand.

It's the Primark white t shirt analogy, but in food retail. The reason they can sell a £1.50 t-shirt is because they will order 1 million in one hit, cost per item being very low. You sell enough to make a big profit even at low margins.

£1.95 a pint in The Wetherspoons in London.

So you've been robbed.

I tend to go to Greggs sometimes

Try ‘Spoons. We go there for coffee. £1.45 for a refillable cup. Includes coffee, cappuccino, latte (and decaf), hot chocolate, tea. With free iced water if required.

I also find the staff are good (I try to ignore the owner). We spent a lot of time at the biggest one whilst waiting for dc to finish GCSEs. There was a slightly confused elderly man who came in every day, unwrapped his breakfast from home, and paid for a coffee. The staff provided him with a plate and cutlery, and got his coffee for him, and had a pleasant chat with him every day. It was genuinely lovely to see such casual kindness.

I appreciate I will be thrown off MN for admitting I attend these establishments.😁

The last time I paid for a coffee out was in local general hospital!
Large Lavazza Cappuccino which was £3.05 and I was surprised it wasn't more expensive
I take my one green bottle travel mug everywhere else as it's unaffordable now Starbucks has just closed down in my town

Anyone with their mobile on o2 be sure to download the o2 Priority app for some decent savings eg a free weekly hot drink from Greggs, a free weekly Greggs sausage roll or bacon bap on a Fri or Saturday. A free child’s meal in Pizza Hut, Frankie and Benny’s and Prezzo with a paying adult. Vue cinema tickets weekly offer 2 for £9 any day or location .

We had a rare treat of fish and chips the other evening. Absolutely delicious but it came to £40 for 4 cod and chips. I guess that's £10 a head and I'll still keep having it on the odd occasion but its not the regular thing it once was.

You are still missing the point. Many go out for a coffee locally because they taste better than the ones at home. Those of us with a coffee machine won't entertain the idea of buying a coffee unless out for a whole day which saves a significant amount of money over a period of time.

I have a few friends who would meet for coffee every 2-3 weeks before covid. With rising costs, they now come to my house and take it in turns to bake a cake/biscuits while I provide the coffee from machine. We were happy to spend that amount in coffee shops before price rises but just can't justify £9 each for coffee and a croissant

Ssshh don't tell every one!

I paid £4 for half a Diet Coke in a bog standard pub in N Wales. When I questioned it they said it was because it was a glass bottle. It cost more than my friend's pint of ale😒

Obviously drinking and eating out is always gonna be more expensive than at home
BUT It shouldn’t be this expensive
it isn’t in other countries