The Coffee Wars: McDonald’s versus Starbucks
The competition for your coffee dollars is increasing. McCafe at McDonald’s is in the mix:
“…McDonald’s, the world’s biggest restaurant chain, has added the frothy drinks at two-thirds of its 13,794 U.S. stores since introducing a stronger brew in 2006.
…McDonald’s is “being extremely aggressive,” said Peter Kwiatkowski, who helps manage $21.9 billion, including 1.3 million McDonald’s shares, at Fifth Third Asset Management in Cincinnati. “They’re a lot cheaper than Starbucks coffee in general, and they have the high quality to go with it.”"
link: McDonald’s challenging Starbucks with cheaper coffee drinks
Has Starbucks priced themselves out of the budget of some of their coffee demographic? Some Starbucks locations are selling a breakfast special. McDonald’s may be the impetus for Starbucks to compete for your ‘fast food dollars’. The benefit to the consumer is that there might be a competitive incentive to hold prices at the present level.
Catherine Forsythe
6 Comments
Samantha Slavik
September 13th, 2007
at 3:46pm
I think that it is interesting that McDonald’s is giving Starbucks a run for their money. I think that if people like Starbucks coffee, they are more likely to continue to go there rather than go to McDonald’s just because of the price because Starbucks has always been on the expensive side. Starbucks has the variety of coffee products that McDonald’s doesn’t offer. Also, many senior citizens go to McDonald’s, while more business people go to Starbucks. I think that people where go to whatever place is more convenient or go to the place they have a taste for.
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Steve
January 9th, 2009
at 9:13am
Comparing the prices of Tim Horton’s, Dunkin Doughnuts, and Starbucks for a cup of brewed coffee they are all within 25 cents of each other.
Joe
March 27th, 2009
at 12:44pm
McDonald’s is smart for adapting high-end coffee to a slow economy, but still, their McCafe coffees aren’t a whole lot less than Starbucks