The iced latte trend is costing people real money and they don't notice

I run a small cafe on Ventura Blvd and I keep seeing new owners pour money into fancy iced lattes with house made syrups and cold foam. But here's the thing, they're selling them for like $6 and forgetting the cost of the glass bottles and the extra labor. Last month I watched a shop down the street go through 3 gallons of vanilla syrup in a week and they were shocked when their profit margin tanked. Has anyone else crunched the numbers on what those extra steps actually cost your bottom line?

2 comments

2 Comments

jones.anna13d ago

Totally agree but ALSO those pretty glass bottles they're using for the syrups? Each one costs like 4-5 bucks and people are just leaving them at their tables or tossing them in the trash. That money adds up QUICK.

william_carter13d ago

Oh man, I gotta disagree a bit here! Those bottles aren't really meant to be taken home, you know? They're part of the whole "craft coffee" experience where they make the drink look nice for Instagram and stuff. The shops are paying for presentation, not hoping customers will recycle them as keepsakes. Plus most of those syrups come in bulk containers that get refilled, so the cost per serving is probably pennies, not dollars. The real waste is probably the plastic lids and straws that come with every drink, not the glass bottles that get used over and over behind the counter.