Why the f*** is coffee that expensive?

Why the f*** is coffee that expensive?

Coffee beans hit record prices in 2025.
In January, Blue Tokai's co-founder told Business Today that beans got 50 to 60% costlier that year, and most cafés couldn't pass it on to customers.

So if your café coffee didn't jump with the beans, what were you paying for all along?

The answer is in Blue Tokai's filed accounts for FY25.
It earned ₹325 crore and spent ₹385 crore, so about ₹1.18 went out for every ₹1 that came in.

Now guess how much of that ₹385 crore went on buying the stuff it sells, coffee, milk and food included.
About ₹110 crore, depending on which report you read.

Staff cost about ₹94 crore, and rent was ₹55 crore.
Together, they cost more than everything it sells.

The co-founder said it himself: "In a café, 40-45% expenses are rental, marketing, and discounts."
Bhai, you're paying for the chair, the AC and the person behind the counter.

Ek aur cheez.
Even at these prices, the big chains are losing money.
Blue Tokai lost ₹50 crore in FY25, and Tata Starbucks, with ₹1,367 crore in sales and over 500 stores, still reported a loss in FY26.

So why do they keep opening more?
Blue Tokai has about 240 cafés and wants 800 by FY30.
Starbucks India plans to add 50 to 100 stores a year.

The Brutal Reality:
They're betting on economies of scale Economies of scale = the more cafés you run, the cheaper each one gets to run.
Blue Tokai's CEO says a denser network makes it more efficient, and he is aiming for a profit by March 2028.

Your café coffee isn't expensive because of the coffee.
It's expensive because of everything around it.

Café coffee or tapri chai, which one is your daily?

✍🏻 Mantra Joshi

✍🏻 Mantra Joshi

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