Dallas Coffee Shops React to Price Changes

DALLAS — Much like how Paris’ Café de Flore attracted philosophical thinkers, Full City Rooster is a preferred spot for many of Dallas’ brightest thinkers; studying medical students, lawyers meeting with their clients, or just simply coffee aficionados.

Samuel Speights, who has frequented the coffee shop for nearly a decade, says the scholarly and professional energy of the shop is what draws him in.

“I’ll have my headphones off and listen to people’s conversations,” Speights said.

For loyal customers like Speights this environment is worth paying the more expensive price that was caused by rising inflation and supply chain issues.

“Most people are dialed in with their local coffee shops that I don’t necessarily think a small price increase will deter them,” Speights said.

As temperatures begin to sink, the price of coffee continues to rise across the country. According to the national Consumer Price Index, the price of roasted coffee rose 15.6% in October compared to a year ago. And it’s not just coffee prices that are rising. Paper goods have risen 10.5%, sugar has risen 14.1% , and the price of milk has risen 14.5% in the same time frame.

In response, Dallas area coffee shops have either begun planning a price raise, or have already raised the price of coffee.

For example, earlier this year Full City Rooster, which has been in Dallas for 9 years, announced they would be raising the prices of certain menu items. According to a May 28 post on the coffee shop’s Instagram, a price increase of this level was unprecedented.

Inflation is not the only culprit responsible for the rising price of coffee. Other factors, such as supply chain issues, and bigger labor expenses are also considerable causes of the price increases.

“Our increases began with distribution of green coffee beans and the roasting of the coffee,” Michael Wyatt, owner of Full City Rooster said. 80% of beverages were raised 10–20%.

For example, the menu’s most popular item; the latte, used to cost $4 but now cost $5.

Under the shop’s Instagram post that announced the price changes, many loyal customers said that they understood the price change.

Instagram user @studley1728 commented, “Will happily pay more if it will keep everyone employed, keep the business open, and keep the delicious beans roasting!”

However, there were other reasons listed by Wyatt including higher wages, namely for tenured staff, and of course, the price of the beans themselves.

Deep Ellum’s Noble Coyote Coffee Roasters is another Dallas area coffee establishment that has increased prices over the past year. Kevin Sprague, who founded the coffee shop in 2011, said that his establishment had to raise prices, and scale down, as a result of the recent economic turmoil.

“Freight charges have gone up dramatically, that’s about triple of what they were a year ago,” Sprague said.

Unfortunately for these coffee shops, there is no clarification that the prices of coffee will revert to what they used to be.

“I honestly don’t know what’s going to happen in the next year with coffee and you know, global warming, that’s changing things,” Sprague said. “So there’s some really weird things starting to happen.”

Wyatt believes that he has prepared for this uncertainty already.

“The response to our price increase, which has only been the first, was very thoughtful, and forward looking,” Wyatt said. “We don’t anticipate seeing any more price increases going forward.”

Thankfully for local coffee shop owners, their patronage hasn’t waned as a result of raising the prices.

“We made the announcement on social media of the price increase so people were very supportive,” Wyatt said.

Sprauge is grateful for this and believes that his clientele’s awareness of the situation is to thank.

“There’s been no real, I guess, pushback from the customer base based on that, so that’s surprising,” Sprauge said. “I think everyone understands.”

Another layer of support for coffee shops? The value of enjoying your morning brew at a local roaster.

“I think the value is in more than just the product,” Wyatt said. “It’s in the experience. That is what we built our shop and our business on. As long as we’re still delivering on the experience, the value of the product itself remains high.”

Source List

Full City Roosters

1810 S Akard St #100, Dallas, TX 75215

(469) 500–5566

Noble Coyote

819 Exposition Ave, Dallas, TX 75226

(214) 321–4321