The f lat white coffee rip-off
Trendy drink uses less milk than latte or cappuccino – so why does it cost more?
ONCE the favourite choice of trendy drinkers in independent coffee shops, flat whites are now on the menu in every high street chain.
Despite their growing popularity, however, they come with a bizarrely hefty price tag.
Although they have the same amount of coffee as a latte or cappuccino and less milk than both, it has emerged that the drinks are more expensive – for no apparent reason.
In Starbucks, for example, customers will pay £2.40 for a tall latte with two shots of coffee, but £2.60 for a flat white. Meanwhile, in Caffe Nero, a medium latte is £2.50, but a flat white will set you back £2.60.
Experts say that there is no excuse for the price discrepancy, particularly given that flat whites typically come in the smallestsized cups.
A flat white comes in one size and comprises a double shot with foamy, steamed milk. The drink has less milk than a latte and has a thinner band of textured, creamy milk on the top.
Conal Lavery, of Thomson’s Coffee Roasters, told Channel 4’s Supershoppers – which has investigated the unusual pricing – that flat whites should cost less. He said: ‘A flat white is quite a clearly defined drink that emerged about ten or 15 years ago from Australia and New Zealand. It is only in one size, it’s a small short drink, about six or seven ounces. It’s always a double shot, and it’s with really, really nicely steamed milk, with a micro-foam on it but less and flatter than a cappuccino.
‘There is no reason for a flat white to cost any more.’
Asked if there could be any conceivable reason for it to be so expensive, he said: ‘What has happened is, over the last while, the chains and the nationals, and the speciality independent side of the market as well, do a double shot as standard.
‘So with a double shot as standard, you are getting the same amount of coffee and with a flat white you are actually getting less milk. So if anything it should cost less.
‘The only possible reason that there could be is that the barista has to know what they are doing and know how to texture milk.’
However, when the programme, which airs tonight at 8.30pm, timed a barista making a latte, cappuccino and flat white, they were fastest on the flat white.
Until high street chains started including flat whites on their menus, they were available only in independent coffee chains.