Starbucks Price Increase: Menu Goes Up By About 1% For Some Beverages In U.S., Though Coffee Bean Costs At Four-Year Low

Starbucks coffee prices will increase starting today by about 1%, or 10 cents, in the U.S., depending on which beverages and which locations.

Brewed coffee, tea, latte and espresso drinks will increase in price, spokesman Jim Olson told CNNMoney last week.

On average, the price of a tall brewed coffee will raise by 10 cents. However, less than one-third of all Starbucks beverages will be affected by the new prices, Olson said.

The price of Grande or Venti-sized brewed coffees, Frappuccinos, and Refreshers will remain the same, Bloomberg Businessweek reports.

In New York, for example, the price of a tall brewed coffee will still be $1.85, but Americanos and lattes will be 10¢ more expensive. Though Starbucks has incrementally raised their prices since 1994, when a tall coffee cost $1.25, Bloomberg Businessweek explains in 2013 dollars, this is actually worth $1.96 now, which means prices have risen more or less in tandem with everything else.

Olson blamed the rising cost of labor, raw materials, and rent for the price hike, and said this is the first price increase in nearly two years, CNN Money reports.

Yet Reuters reports that green arabica coffee prices dropped to a four-year low on the ICE Futures U.S. market at $1.1710 per lb on Thursday.

Starbucks spokeswoman Lisa Passe also admitted that coffee commodity costs make up less than 10 percent of Starbucks' overall store operating and occupancy expenses.