To think £2 for a babycino is extortionate

[Prrambulate]

The lovely independent coffee shop near me has raised the price of its babycino from £1 (already steep imo) to £2. Babycino in this case = an espresso cup of frothed milk with a dusting of cocoa powder on top.

This place has a selection of toys in a dedicated corner so lots of parents tend to go there to unwind and have somewhere their kids can play for a short while. I sense the business opportunity here but it also seems exploitative to me! Especially since their usual coffees are all at the £3 - £3,50 range.

Working up the courage to complain…

Used to be free if you ordered a drink for the adult

My local Costa went from giving me a free puppaccino with my drive through coffee order to charging me 50p, so that's pretty similar.

Even £2 wouldn't stop me for the pleasure I see on my dog's face as he scoffs greedily and then spends a good 10 minutes or more finding extra bits of cream on his whiskers.

(Costa please don't raise the price to £2 just because you've read this 🤣)

But seriously- commercial rates and rents have risen an insane amount in recent years. The COL crisis, especially rising energy bills has affected small businesses even more than it has households - it was reported that it wasn't unusual for restaurants used to £1k/ month bills to suddenly have to find £4k/ month. Cafes and restaurants have had to put up their prices as much as they dare or go under, while of course customers who were also being squeezed have had less spending power. It's been a huge nightmare all round, but it's not the cafe owner's fault or greed.

Imagine if any restaurant or cafe you go to doubled the price of an item you regularly buy. Wouldn’t you raise any eyebrow at least?
I might be disappointed but I still wouldn't consider I have any grounds for complaint. It's still entirely my choice whether to buy it or not.

At one point the places couldn't even switch suppliers for cheaper because suppliers wanted 5k+ deposits to take them on. I believe that stopped now. Absolutely mental

In a world where people cant afford food what makes you think a ‘babyccino’ is going to be something cheap and easily obtained? It’s a luxury they can charge what they like it doesn’t matter how much you think it’s worth.

If they have a play area their numbers of young kids are so high of course it’s reasonable for them to charge a tiny bit more! Even if just to cover the reduced seating to accommodate the play area. If you want it for free go to a more adult cafe.
Dont complain about their prices. Would you rather pay £1 to use the play area?

This place has a selection of toys in a dedicated corner so lots of parents tend to go there to unwind and have somewhere their kids can play for a short while.

You're paying for the overall experience, not just a cup of warm milk.

YABU

Because you're not just going in, drinking the coffee in 10 mins and clearing off so they can recycle the table.

The coffee shop has marketed itself towards DMs with young DCs. If I didn't have a young DC with me or was with ddog, I would deliberately not choose that cafe as it sounds noisy and potentially has young DCs wandering around trying to engage with me or getting in the way of the servers.

You're not paying £2 for the babycino, so much as you are for the cafe that best suits your needs. Just don't buy it, it's not mandatory.

Why is buying a milk drink a waste of money?

LOL loads of places charge for them.

Taking a sippy cup to a café when the tot is old enough to buy a drink.... meh. If you want the caff to go out of business.

I can remember a friend getting appalled when her local cafe started charging for babycinos. Same person who complained when waitrose said you have to buy something to get a free coffee, actually. In both cases she was going for the free thing and only the free thing. CF.

I expect too many people have been just ordering a babiccino and nothing else in order to pay only a pound to hang out in the warm on someone else's heating bill.

Rather than complaining, suggest that a babiccino could be £2 if bought solo but only £1 if bought at the same time as a full size hot drink.

You’re paying for the labour, the overhead costs of employing people, the costs of the physical cafe itself, including that nice corner with the toys. £2 is really not that much.

Ask for a latte with no coffee. Then you get a full size drink for 3.50 rather than a miniscule one for £2
Or a glass of warm milk, the whole babychino thing is just a marketing ploy

Coffee from coffee shops is all just a big rip off. That's why I bring my own coffee into work ( plus it tastes better).

However meeting friends and having social interaction is very valuable and that's effectively what I'm paying for when I meet a friend for coffee.

This place also has a corner that entertains small DCs for up to 30 minutes- that is positively priceless.

Is the ‘everyone is temporarily content’ experience worth an extra £1?

I’d wager it is.

Think of it less in terms of the 100% increase on this one item, and more in terms of a smaller percentage across your whole order.

I might raise my eyebrows at the till point the first time and say ‘gosh, that’s a big increase in the babycino!’ but that’s as far as I’d go.

Anyway, it won’t be long before the days of a cheap babycino are behind you and a cafe trip means you’re on the hook for the bigger, more expensive options. So embrace the £2 while you can!

Today I Learned

I so wish I were the manager of this shop just to hear your complaint. And then of course, to respond.

Dear Madam, see response attached.

The cafe is catering towards parents over other customers - the play corner will immediately dissuade anyone wanting a bit of peace and quiet. You can’t then also expect them to subsidise the market they’re catering to.

I imagine that the increase is an attempt to compensate for the fact that they’re going to lose business from anyone not in possession of a young child.

A gimmick is normally something than is a con or deception, something low value to make the customer think they are getting something they aren't.
A babycino is not that, it is just another drink on the menu, you may not like the name but they could just list it as children's hot frothy milk at the same price. Same as they could list a cappuccino as hot frothy milky coffee.
Babycinos are obviously not aimed at the kind of people who want to take their own hot drinks to a café. I do wonder what sort of person takes a child to a café and refuses to buy them anything.

The name is a gimmick.