COSTA Coffee has been slammed for quietly hiking the cost of its popular Breakfast Bundle Bap deal by a whopping 50p in move set to hit latte fans in pocket.
The hefty eight per cent price hike means the popular Breakfast Bap deal including a bacon roll and coffee will now set punters back a wallet-busting £6.49 rather than £5.99.
Costa fans aren’t happy with the 50p increase for the Breakfast Bundle Bap[/caption]
The price “adjustment” was sneaked in under the radar in May with no public announcement but was picked up by eagle-eyed Sun spotters monitoring high street price hikes.
Back in 2022 the same promotion, then called a “bacon roll and coffee” meal deal, set punters back just over £5 depending on the choice of brew.
Last night Costa regular Martina Bailey, 42, of Buxton, Derbyshire, said the latest price increase came as a real blow.
She explained: “It seems every time you go down the high street one thing or another has gone up in price.
“I used to love treating myself to Costa’s Breakfast Bap deal once in a while but now it looks like I’m not going to be getting much change out of a tenner.”
The penny-pinching move comes just two months after Costa Coffee owners Coca-Cola announced they were in talks to offload the café giant – which has 2,000 UK outlets – in a cut-price £2 billion deal.
The American soft drinks behemoth had high hopes for the Costa brand when it bought it from Whitbread in 2018, owner of the Premier Inn hotel chain, for £3.9 billion, but the chain has struggled with rising costs and high street competition.
In June we reported Costa had whacked increases of as much as 15p on brew prices with hospital branches hit the worst thanks to a 20p “sickness surcharge” – just four months after the last hike.
The cost of caffeine blow meant coffee fans working, visiting or laid up in hospital could end up shelling out upwards for £4 a pop for their favourite tipple.
While in March last year we told how Costa has silently imposed a 5p price hike on its popular pour-it-yourself machine brews meaning some DIY drinks were almost £4 a pop.
The cost surge came just 18 months after the café giant levied a previous 18% increase.
Costa is not the only high street café outfit battling surging costs.
Last week Greggs announced another round of price hikes slapping a 20p rise on its three-item breakfast deal taking the price from £3.95 to £4.15.
While the two-item breakfast deal has also been increased from £2.95 to £3.15.
The bakery chain’s chief executive, Roisin Currie, blamed the increases on rising wages being baked into prices.
Meanwhile critics have described Costa’s latest price hike as an attempt to combat spiralling costs and wage bills.
Sarah Coles, Head of Personal Finance at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “This isn’t the only meal deal to have risen in price recently, as food inflation means even the deals designed to get people through the door are getting more expensive.
“Costa is facing the double whammy of rising wage bills – thanks to the National Insurance increase – alongside soaring prices.
“The most recent figures show coffee prices are up 15.4% in a year. It’s easy to see why prices have been creeping up to protect margins.”
And Martyn James, independent consumer champion, added: “This major price hike means people will choose to go hungry rather than fork out for overpriced options from Costa.
“Regular users of breakfast deals are usually incredibly tired and busy and don’t have the time to prep a good breakfast at home with all their responsibilities.
“But they aren’t just time-poor, they are facing very real financial pressures – and this price rise means that for thousands, there will be no break, but all fast.”
Costa Coffee said: “Like all retailers, we are navigating unprecedented inflationary pressures that have led to increased costs.
“Earlier this year, we made a small adjustment to our Breakfast Bundle Bap deal at a majority of our stores, increasing the price by 50p from £5.99 to £6.49.
“We remain committed to offering great value and delicious breakfast options for our customers, as well as continuing to offer lunch and afternoon bundles.”
How to save money on your food shop
Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how you can save hundreds of pounds a year:
Odd boxes – plenty of retailers offer slightly misshapen fruit and veg or surplus food at a discounted price.
Lidl sells five kilos of fruit and veg for just £1.50 through its Waste Not scheme while Aldi shoppers can get Too Good to Go bags which contain £10 worth of all kinds of products for £3.30.
Sainsbury’s also sells £2 “Taste Me, Don’t Waste Me” fruit and veg boxes to help shoppers reduced food waste and save cash.
Food waste apps – food waste apps work by helping shops, cafes, restaurants and other businesses shift stock that is due to go out of date and passing it on to members of the public.
Some of the most notable ones include Too Good to Go and Olio.
Too Good to Go’s app is free to sign up to and is used by millions of people across the UK, letting users buy food at a discount.
Olio works similarly, except users can collect both food and other household items for free from neighbours and businesses.
Yellow sticker bargains – yellow sticker bargains, sometimes orange and red in certain supermarkets, are a great way of getting food on the cheap.
But what time to head out to get the best deals varies depending on the retailer. You can see the best times for each supermarket here.
Super cheap bargains – sign up to bargain hunter Facebook groups like Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK where shoppers regularly post hauls they’ve found on the cheap, including food finds.
“Downshift” – you will almost always save money going for a supermarket’s own-brand economy lines rather than premium brands.
The move to lower-tier ranges, also known as “downshifting” and hailed by consumer expert Martin Lewis, could save you hundreds of pounds a year on your food shop.
