First the £10 pint, now the £6.50 flat white: coffee industry faces inflationary pressures

The head of Lavazza coffee says customers so far have been absorbing the jump in cost, but ‘there are limits’ to how much they would be willing to pay. Photograph: Washington Imaging/Alamy

Drinkers across the UK were shocked when a pint in some London bars hit £10, and now a cup of coffee is facing a similar inflationary rate. Some baristas are now charging £6.50 for a flat white.

Higher energy bills, inflated by the war in the Middle East, as well as government policies which have increased tax and wages, are filtering through into coffee prices, experts said.