Starting Tuesday, Starbucks will be raising its prices yet again.
The price hikes will range from 5 to 20 cents for many hot drinks. Starbucks raised its prices last year as well.
The increase comes from a need to manage business costs, including coffee, labor and rent expenses, a Starbucks spokeswoman said in a statement Monday.
“Our pricing philosophy is to balance our need to run our business effectively while providing maximum value to our customers,” she said.
The high labor costs are no surprise. Last year, Starbucks announced a partnership with Arizona State University that would allow for its baristas to get two full years of “free” online education from the university. This is worth around $30,000 per employee, its CEO Howard Schultz said. (RELATED: Are Taxpayers Subsidizing College PR?)
Starbucks also offers health insurance to workers, even its part-time employees. In 2010, that cost the company $300 million, more than it paid on coffee.