Cost of popular Aussie drinks skyrocketed since 2014

Punters are being slugged with massive price hikes on their favourite drinks, with the cost of some beverages more than doubling over the past decade. See which drinks have been hit hardest.

Nick Colaccino and Isabella Paice-Whear at BrewDog. Pics Adam Head

Punters are being slugged with massive price hikes on their favourite drinks, with the cost of some beverages more than doubling over the past decade.

An analysis of drink prices has revealed some of the nation’s favourite beverages have increased dramatically in price since 2014, including coffee, Boost Juice, bubble tea, beer, wine and spirits.

Beer has seen one of the biggest price jumps.

In 2014 a pint would set you back between $6 and $8, but in the current economy, it can easily cost punters $15.

The price increase, in part, can be attributed to massive hikes in excise tax, skyrocketing the consumer price index of beer by 42.5 per cent since 2014.

For wine, an average glass 10 years ago would have set consumers back $10.30, compared to this year’s average price of around $12.50.

Popular brand Boost Juice has also seen a big jump in prices, with the cost of an original-sized smoothie rising $2.80 since 2014 – although a spokesman for the company said that it was up to individual Boost Juice franchisees to set their own prices.

“Boost is a network of independent franchise owners who set price based on local trading conditions, competition, and costs of running their business, so pricing varies across the Boost network,” they said.

Similarly, Chatime bubble tea has jumped $2.20 over the same time frame, while a Very Vanilla Chiller from Gloria Jean’s cost $6.50 in 2014 and is now $7.90. Coffee has also seen a dramatic jump, with the average cup costing around $5.30, up from $3.90 in 2014.

Griffith University consumer expert Graeme Hughes said the jump in prices could be attributed to the rapidly increasing costs of everything from rent and wages, to marketing and the shift away from using cash.

“It’s down to energy costs, insurance, wages, rent, transport and then as we’ve relied less on cash, more businesses have to rely on payment gateways and other things related to that … those costs hit hard,” he said.

“Owners can’t take that all on themselves, in one way or another those costs get passed on to the consumers. The same things are impacting pubs and clubs as cafes- wages and rent in particular have been the killer for them.

“Venues are really doing it tough – so many venues are grappling with those costs.”