Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol is facing a torrent of online backlash after calling a nearly $10 (£7.37) cup of coffee an 'affordable premium experience' just days after the company posted record quarterly revenue of $9.53 billion (£7.02 billion).
The 52-year-old executive made the remarks onThe Wall Street Journal's What's News AM podcast in late April. When asked whether the K-shaped economy, where high and low-income Americans face vastly different financial outcomes, was affecting Starbucks sales, Niccol said the company was 'not seeing that' in its business.
'What we're seeing is people, they want to have a special experience,' Niccol told podcast host Luke Vargas. 'And regardless of what your income level is, in some cases, a $9 (£6.63) experience does feel like you're splurging.'
Against a backdrop of consumer anxiety, Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol says a focus on experience and faster service is luring customers back to its coffee shops.🎧 Listen to the full interview:https://t.co/n0zZA4Wbvipic.twitter.com/NnDGqKv2z7
He went further, saying some customers see it as 'a really affordable premium experience' because 'it's less than $10 and I get a really premium experience.' Starbucks drinks, he said, start at $3 (£2.21) for a traditional coffee, but the price rises as customers add customisations.
Niccoljoined Starbucksas chairman and CEO in September 2024 after being recruited from Chipotle Mexican Grill, where he served as chief executive from 2018 and was widely credited with reviving the fast-casual chain following a food safety crisis. His move came with one of the largest pay packages in US corporate history.
A Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing showed his total compensation in his first year reached $96 million (£70.8 million), with stock awards alone exceeding $90 million (£66 million). An AFL-CIO Executive Paywatch report published in July 2025 found that figure was 6,666 times more than the median Starbucks worker's annual pay of $14,674 (£10,800).
The CEO's remarks went viral on X within hours, with users calling him 'tone deaf' and 'disconnected' from everyday consumers struggling with rising costs.
'This guy needs to live on the median US income for a year and buy his own lattes every day,' one user wrote. Another comment cited byDaily Mailsaid, 'these people live in a different reality.'
Others mocked the idea of a 'premium experience' at a drive-through window. One widely shared post on X described the typical Starbucks visit as getting a rushed drink while 'dodging the 25% tip prompt.'
Source: International Business Times UK
