Coffee prices in Melbourne

admin

Interesting article from the Age: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/coffee-with-a-vue-thatll-be-10-20130305-2fj3x.html

Interesting also that the places where you can expect to pay top $ are not necessarily the places where you might expect to get the best coffee...

A

askthecoffeeguy

Restaurants of any description do not necessarily provide the "best" coffee, nor more often than not is it within their brief to do so - economies of scale would seem to suggest that if you have ten staff in the kitchen and fifteen on the floor, plus you're using the best available ingredients that money can buy, coupled with a million dollar fit out, then ten dollars for a coffee is probably a realistic return on the owner's investment In real terms the average price we pay for a coffee in Melbourne is in my experience at least way behind what Sydney, Byron, Brisbane, and the Sunshine Coast are charging - this in part would be in my opinion due to the intense competition for the consumer dollar here, coupled by a long and proud history of espresso consumption, married to an entrenched belief that we shouldn't have to pay 'through the nose' for our coffee But if you factored in all the costs that are associated with producing that coffee including fixed overheads and relatively high wages, I would say that $5 for a cup of coffee represents a much more realistic return on investment for cafe owners - the reality is though, that in a recessed economic climate, coupled with fearce competition for the consumer dollar, very few would be willing to pay that kind of money, except in exceptional circumstancesc The so called easy path for the cafe owner is to reduce costs by focusing upon cutting overheads, including sourcing what I would consider to be inferior produce / coffee / milk / pastries etc It takes conviction and courage to consistently provide a superior product - combined with a willingness to sacrifice profits for quality However you look at it it's an inherently difficult task fraught with potential dangers, to go out on a limb and strive to produce a consistently superior coffee product - and I applaud all those who a brave and foolish enough to follow this path Pat

Kelsey

In my experience Melbourne is far cheaper than the rest of the country. I've paid up to 4.50 for a doppio ristretto on the Sunshine Coast. Hence why I got into this whole caper in the first place.

RichardM

The original link is broken... But I always am surprised with how cheap coffee is in Melbourne (and all capital cities for that matter). $5.20 for a small Soy Cap (wife's standard drink) is pretty normal here :S Some of the much better coffee shops are $3.50-$3.80 with either no surcharge for soy, or 20c.

UNM

$3 for flight of coffee in Melbourne http://www.melbournefoodandwine.com.au/event-calendar/the-urban-coffee-farm-brew-bar-4228

admin

interesting: http://www.goodfood.com.au/good-food/food-news/vue-de-monde-chef-shannon-bennett--hits-back-at-coffee-story-20130308-2fpf0.html - looks like the Age didn't do their research properly :doh: