By Marcelo Teixeira
NEW YORK, Nov 3 (Reuters) – Singer Harry Styles, who recently completed a 30-show residency at Madison Square Garden in New York, thought prices for coffee in the city were some of the spookiest things he saw around Halloween.
“It is a cappuccino. It can’t be $10, it can’t be,” he said during one of his last concerts, according to videos posted by fans on social media.
“The scariest thing about this Halloween is the price of caffeinated beverages in this city. Astronomical. It’s out of control,” he added, before also complaining about expensive tipping.
Some fans, in comments after the video, thought it was amusing that such a wealthy and successful personality would complain about such an ordinary thing as the price for a cup of coffee.
“Harry is right… $10 for a cappuccino plus at least a 20% tip?,” said one fan. “Are you for real?”
Others, meanwhile, criticized ticket prices for his concerts.
Coffee has suffered a series of cost shocks in recent years including climate-related production shortfalls in major producers and the imposition of US tariffs, which were later removed.
The price of a pound of ground roast coffee in US cities averaged $9.33 in September, according to the latest inflation reading from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That is the highest ever for the month and 91% higher than in 2020, adding another item to the cost of living discussion as the US votes in the midterm elections.
Coffee companies say they had to cut profit margins during the cost shock to prevent prices rising even more, and are now in a period of recovering their margins.
(Reporting by Marcelo Teixeira; editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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