Coffee shop speaks out following backlash over 'absolutely ridiculous' price of latte

A Chicago coffee house has said charging a ‘ridiculous’ two-figure sum for an iced latte was an ‘incredibly simple mistake’ in a lengthy defence statement.

On 4 April, a TikTok user known as @dear.arabella uploaded a now-viral video claiming a Sakrid Coffee cashier told her the iced vanilla latte she wanted could cost $16.

“I walked out because I am not paying $16 for a latte. That is absolutely f***ing ridiculous,” she alleged. “I would love to support more small businesses, more coffee shops that are local to me, but Jesus Christ, $16 for one drink?”

Earlier in the week, another Chicago-based TikTok user, who goes by the handle @luccyyw, shared a video saying she paid $16 for her iced latte too.

On 3 April, she shared a screenshot of Sakrid Coffee, commenting on her now-deleted video: "Looks like we double charged you! We refunded you your order. So sorry for the inconvenience.”

Sakrid Coffee in Chicago has issued a statement after it was accused of selling $16 iced vanilla lattes (Instagram/@sakridcoffeechi)

Lucy elected to take her original video down. “I don’t want to leave that out there and, like, have people thinking that their lattes are $16 when they are not,” she explained.

“If I thought that, I would have said something and I would have never, like, posted that.”

US TikTok users and state residents have weighed in on the supposed two-figure iced coffee price, with one alleging: “Multiple people have gotten charged $16 for a latte. They’re new so I think it’s been an ongoing error? Unclear but yeah that’s wild.”

Another said: “Tbh it sounds like they’ve accidentally double charged a few people.

In a statement to People Magazine, the business confirmed that it had ‘no record of ever selling coffee that expensive to anyone’.

They claimed that only customer was mistakenly charged $16 for two drinks. However, they were refunded before exiting.

The Lincoln Park business also called the situation a ‘consistency failure… that has caused customer dissatisfaction’.

Sakrid Coffee explained it was ‘acitively solving’ the issue and ‘looking to be transparent’.

The coffee shop plans to sell a drink called the $16 latte (Instagram/@sakridcoffechi)

Isaac, a manager at Sakrid, told People that the $16 latte blunder may have taken off online following the rise of food cost anxiety in the UK, as well as other companies ‘taking advantage of’ customers, and dynamic fast-food pricing.

“Because of this, outrage sells. So in the same way that influencers capitalise on popular formats to improve audience engagement, it seems people are using outrage towards ridiculous food prices as a way to gain some traction,” the food and beverage industry worker mused.

“And I think it’s brilliant. I would too in their situation; it’s easy and effective,” he continued. “But in this case, it’s untrue, unexamined, and it’s unfortunately harming us baristas who are just trying to pay rent.

“At the end of the day, the overcharge was an incredibly simple mistake that got resolved before the first video was even published.”

In conversation with FOODbible, Isaac said that the Lincoln Park store had been ‘busier than ever’ following the online fallout.

“People have been flooding in to find for themselves that our lattes are not $16 but a very affordable $5.50.

“I am also proud to say they have all been quite pleased with not only the price, but many have told us that it’s some of the best espresso and matcha they've found in the city!”

The boss said that despite the positivity, he is concerned about staff members and the toll that the criticism may have taken on their mental health.

“Social media allows us to dehumanise each other in ways we would otherwise not. So this should be a call to action. Go outside, meet people face to face, and remember that there are real people behind those screens. I’d suggest a good place to start would be at your local coffee shop. We’d be happy to have you.”

Despite this, Isaac said he would like to thank the social media influencers for ‘unintentionally’ bringing so many new customers into the store and that he is ‘forever in these creators’ debt’.

“We plan to honor them by adding “The Sixteen Dollar Latte” to our menu and charging the same price as all our other lattes: $5.50.

“If anyone has ideas for what this latte should be, I would absolutely love it if they would follow us on Instagram @sakridcoffeechi and share their thoughts! We’ll be posting a poll on 20 April to collect responses,” he added.