A receipt showing $6 for a babycino and $18 for a toastie has locals swapping their own café price shocks, from $7.50 coffees to $8.70 chai.
A café receipt showing $6 for a babycino has WA parents asking when a cup of frothed milk for the kids became a luxury.
The parent who shared it said they were shocked when they read the bill. The same receipt, which locals say came from a café on the Geraldton foreshore, also listed an $18 grilled cheese.
"Has the price of a babyccino gone up to $6 now? I was shocked when I saw the receipt!" - WA parent
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Plenty of people remembered when babycinos were free, made from the milk left over after frothing for adult coffees. Others said they now pay anywhere from $1 to $3.50 at their local, and one said a major café chain charged them $2.50 this week.
Photo: Christos Andrews via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0). File photo.
The receipt opened the floodgates, with locals sharing their own café shocks:
On the $18 toastie, opinions were split. Some called it gouging; others said a café toastie has more cheese than two slices of bread suggests, and that something closer to $11 was a fair café price.
"Something like $11 is ok and probably the common price in cafes, $18 is not. There is a limit to location premium." - Perth local
Café owners have long pointed to rising costs for milk, coffee beans, rent, wages and power. Small business owners also weighed in, saying many are struggling to cover their costs and some are at risk of losing their homes if trade doesn't pick up.
Locals' advice was simple: check the menu board before ordering, and if the price is too high, walk out. As one person put it, consumers choosing not to buy based on price is about as capitalist as it gets.
Photo: Kgbo via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). A café in Maylands; file photo, not the café in the story.
The price talk also reached cheap eats. One Perth local said food court meals that used to be marked down to $5 near closing time are now $7.50. Others shared ways to stretch a few dollars:
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If you're struggling to afford food, Foodbank WA and other community groups offer free or low-cost meals and groceries across Perth and the regions.
As for the $6 babycino, most agreed the cheapest fix is the oldest one: ask the price first.
Sources: Foodbank WA; comments from WA parents and Perth locals.
Photo: DaHuzyBru via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Geraldton foreshore; file photo.
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