Coffee battle in Perth
Lately there’s been a lot of focus on the coffee wars now brewing in Perth, the town that’s purportedly Australia’s most expensive coffee capital.
The cost of a regular coffee in Perth is around $4.50, although the cost of living website Numbeo, puts it at $4.53. Then again, it’s only looking at the standard cappuccino.
That means sandgropers pay more for a cuppa than most of their caffeine-addicted countrymen and women.
"If you look at the stages of getting coffee to the cup from the farmer to GST, wages, insurance, super, rent, outgoings, food costs and equipment, I think $4.50 (standard price) is not bad value," Perth’s veteran barista Gavin Walsh, one of the first people in Australia to import what has been dubbed the "Ferrari" of coffee machines, the Slayer Espresso, told WA Today.
The next most expensive space is Brisbane where a coffee costs $4.33. That’s followed by Adelaide, $4.08, Melbourne $3.89 and Sydney $3.78.
The cheapest place is Tasmania. You can get a cup of Joe there for as little as $2.50, 81 per cent cheaper than Perth.
Still some cafes are saying it’s all too much.
Jujuberry+Co in Mount Hawthorn has declared that "war on Perth's exorbitant coffee starts now". It has started selling coffee for $3.50.
Paulette Contessi from Park+Vine in City Beach has gone even further and is now selling take away for $3, claiming the price of coffee in Perth is "ridiculous".
"We are not dropping our high quality, our beans are sourced from South America and supplied by Australian bean roasters Will & Co and we have the best baristas preparing the perfect cup," Ms Contessi told WA Today.
"If we had a 'coffee off' our coffee would win hands down.
"I recently had breakfast at a new northern beach restaurant and it cost $6.25 for a mug of flat white. The worst part was the menu didn't tell you how much over the normal cup size it costs for a larger coffee."
"Perhaps this will be the beginning of a coffee revolution in Perth."
by Leon Gettler, January 24th 2017
