20/04/2026
Why do we happily pay $9 for a b**r, but question a coffee once it creeps past $7?
Right now, the hospitality industry is under real pressure. Margins are tighter than ever, rents keep climbing, and small businesses arenโt getting much support from government. Yet cafรฉs seem to wear the brunt of pricing criticism in a way pubs rarely do.
Itโs strange when you think about it. Coffee and b**r start in a similar placeโboth are agricultural products, grown on farms and shaped by processing, transport, and skilled hands. Brewers and Roasters alike, rely on technique, timing, and precision to get the best out of their product.
But once they reach the venue, the perception shifts.
Order a $6 latte at a cafรฉ and a barista grinds the beans, dials in the extraction, textures the milk to the right temperature, and pours it with care into a cup and lid that also cost money.
Order a $9 b**r at a pub and, more often than not, itโs taken from a fridge and handed over.
One involves time, training, and craft in the moment. The other is mostly in the preparation beforehand. Yet the lower effort service is the one we accept at a higher price point without question.
Globally, specialty coffee often costs the equivalent of $9 or moreโin the UK, the US, across Europe. Yes, you can still find cheaper options anywhere (just like you can grab a $3 servo coffee in Australia), but thatโs not the same as specialty.
Coffee is a daily ritual for many, and $6 a day adds up I get why people feel it. Itโs not nothing. But compared to the rest of the world, Australiaโs coffee is still relatively affordable.
Whatโs harder to understand is why a small price increase at a cafรฉโ50 cents, maybe a dollar can spark backlash, while paying more for a b**r barely raises an eyebrow.
(We are not here to discredit the hard work breweries do put in each day, we are simply comparing semi similar products and why cafes get more grief when needing to raise prices)