Sick of the price of coffee

Sick of the price of coffee

A Dublin-based doctor has contacted PriceWatch to express his concern and frustration at what he believes to be the excessively high prices being charged in hospital cafes, particularly in the two cafes operating at St James’s Hospital where he is based. These cafes have a largely captive market and are, he believes, taking advantage of their position to the detriment of some of the most disadvantaged members of our society.

St James’s had a new entrance constructed in recent years, which has, according to the doctor, “improved the atmosphere in the hospital considerably”. There is one significant downside, however. As part of the redevelopment, Cafe Kylemore opened two cafes, one upstairs and one downstairs, in the new atrium.

He was prompted to get in touch with us when he noticed the price of a latte had climbed to €3 in recent weeks. “Butlers Chocolate Cafe on Grafton St doesn’t charge this, even though they could get away with it, given that 90 per cent of their clientele are tourists,” he writes. He points out that St James’s serves “one of, if not the most, underprivileged populations in Ireland. If well-paid health workers think twice about going for a coffee, I shudder to think what poor patients and their families, many of whom depend on government supports, must think of these prices.

“The prices are totally unwarranted. Both cafes have an ever-present queue, from opening to closing hours, so maintaining ailing profit margins could not be the reason for these increases. I have written, but to no avail, to the manager of the cafe to express my concerns on behalf of the patients and their families,” he says.

We contacted Cafe Kylemore, which runs more than 40 restaurants across the country, to see what it had to say.

A spokeswoman said that it was the company’s policy to deal directly with the customer when issues of this nature arose and said she would contact our reader, who has also sent a complaint directly to the cafe, to discuss the pricing further. She declined to comment on the prices in the cafe but was keen to point out that “a fundamental guiding principle” of the chain had “always been to offer value to our customers. This is a core value for Kylemore.” She expressed her disappointment that a customer had complained.