Asbury students returning from winter break received an email from the Hiccup announcing a change in prices.
According to the email, drink prices have increased by 50 cents “due to rising rates of inflation.”
Senior Carly Cawthon and sophomore Steffani Keepers are both Hiccup regulars, visiting anywhere from one to three times a week. Both are surprised it took this long for prices to increase as many businesses raised their prices months ago.
“I’m surprised they went up so late,” Keepers said. “Because of inflation, prices started going up a while back.”
Hiccup employee relations manager Anna Blankenship explained why it took several semesters for prices to increase.
“University staff have been wanting to increase prices for several semesters now, but student management has been advocating to keep pricing the same in order to preserve accessibility to students,” Blankenship said. “It just got to the point where student management didn’t have much say anymore, and we had to raise prices in order to keep functioning.”
According to both students, the increase in prices will affect how often they visit the Hiccup.
“I’ll probably go less because I can make my own coffee,” Keepers said.
“As an avid tea lover, I don’t feel like there are as many interesting and affordable options. There’s chai and matcha but those are already expensive,” Cawthon said. “If those prices go up, I probably won’t go as much because that’s the only thing I drink.”
Between November 2020 and 2021, the Consumer Price Index rose 6.8% in the United States due to price increases for gasoline, food and housing. According to CNBC, rising energy costs caused inflation to rise to 9.1% in 2022.
“There are certain things people will pay more for no matter what, like gasoline. But people really like coffee and companies know people will buy the coffee no matter how much more it is,” Cawthon said.
Competitors like Starbucks raise prices each season alongside their new product launches. They cite the reason as inflation, labor costs and supply chain disruptions.
Keepers believes despite the increase, people will continue to buy their drinks at the Hiccup.
“I feel like there won’t be that much change because people will buy their coffee no matter what. They might be upset at first but they’ll get used to it and won’t think about it,” Keepers said.
For Cawthon, Eagle Bucks are a way for her to track and monitor her spending habits.
“There are people who don’t like to make their own coffee or are on the go, so people are going to buy it anyway,” Cawthon said. “Maybe more people will want to use Eagle Bucks. Even though you’re paying all that money up front, you can get refunded or it can roll over. Personally, I can use it to set a limit for myself and monitor my spending.”
As of 2023, the rate of inflation was 3.4% according to the Consumer Price Index. This number is projected to drop to 3.2% in 2024.