Consumers slammed Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol as “out of touch” this week after he suggested patrons didn’t mind paying $9 for a cup of coffee because they were getting a “premium experience.”
Coffee drinkers made their feelings quite clear on social media when Niccol appeared on the Wall Street Journal’s What News podcast to discuss how the world’s largest coffee chain is navigating the current economic challenges.
The result as the video hit social media?
“Yeah. I gotta stop going to Starbucks,” wrote PoliticsGirl to her more than half a million followers.
“How out of touch could a person possibly be,” wrote another.
“Sorry, dude, you can go to Kim Kardashian and maybe she can pay for,” wrote another X user.
“Gas station coffee is superior to Starbucks,” joked another. “Cheaper, too. Every 6 or cup is free.”
Putting the executive’s remarks in context, the CEO was talking about doing “really well” with Gen-Z and millennial customers and the growing disparity between high-and-low income Americans were not impacting his company’s business where the “average spend” is just under $10, he said.
Niccol explained:
What we’re seeing is people, they want to have a special experience. And regardless of what your income level is, in some cases, a $9 experience does feel like you’re splurging. And then what that means is we have to make it worthwhile. And then in other cases, people believe, “Well, this is a really affordable premium experience,” because they’re saying like, “Well, it’s less than $10 and I get a really premium experience.”
Niccol was named CEO of Starbucks in September 2024.
He spent his first year on the job “plowing millions of dollars into improving the experience of Starbucks stores through barista training and outfitting stores with ceramic mugs” and has a number of other improvements on the table, including finding a smoother way to pick up orders, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The CEO also has closed many stores.
The chain runs around 10,000 U.S. locations, about 400 less than it did in 2025, according to the Journal.
The CEO’s comments no doubt didn’t sit well with customers who have been facing higher costs since inflation began during the Biden administration.
According to the Pew Research Center in a report published in January, about 66 percent of U.S. adults remain “very concerned” about the price of food and consumer goods.
In an April survey by Marquette University Law School, researchers found that 82 percent of Americans said grocery prices have gone up in the last six months, which is up from 70 percent in January.
In the survey, Republicans were less likely to say grocery prices were up, some 68 percent, compared to 90 percent of independents and 93 percent of Democrats.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of the Los Angeles crime novel Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
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