A New York City cafe is defying inflation and selling coffee for just $2.50, despite the cost of java soaring across the country.
Customers who paid $2.15 for a regular cup of coffee in 2004 now have to spend at least $3.08.
The price of a cold brew averaged $5.14, while lattes averaged $5.46. In the Big Apple, the most common price tag for a standard coffee is $3.24.
But Casa Salvo, an Upper West Side cafe, wants to recreate the coffee culture of its owners’ home country of Italy with quick and cheap espresso.
“I produce coffee, and coffee should be a drink for everyone, not something out of this world,” says Sicilian chef and owner Salvo Lo Castro. The New York Post.
Casa Salvo, a café on the Upper West Side, serves classic coffee drinks for just $2.50, despite the average price tag for a standard coffee in the Big Apple being $3.24.
Owner Salvo Lo Castro (pictured) wants to recreate the coffee culture of his home country Italy and can offer his drinks at an affordable price thanks to a brand partnership
After moving to the US in 2022, Lo Castro said he wanted to bring Italy’s fast and affordable cafe experience to the Big Apple.
“In Italy the price of coffee is cheap, and you arrive, drink the coffee and leave,” Lo Castro said. “I don’t want people staying an hour for one coffee.”
Casa Salvo, located at 473 Amsterdam Ave. on 83rd Street, has no indoor seating and only six tables outside.
Lo Castro is able to offer his drinks at the affordable price of $2.50 because he is a brand ambassador for Dokito, a coffee supplier from Rome, which connects him to affordable beans.
The cheap java is a nice reprieve for New Yorkers who, despite earning nearly six figures, still couldn’t afford an apartment in the Big Apple in 2023, according to data.
The restaurateur plans to open a second location near Columbus Circle in July and insists he will not raise prices.
“I will maintain the fixed prices – even for the openings throughout 2025,” he said.
Coffee prices have soared across the country, largely due to erratic weather patterns affecting the coffee harvest in major producing countries such as Vietnam, the second-largest exporter of coffee beans after Brazil.
Coffee prices have soared across the country, mainly due to erratic weather patterns affecting coffee harvests in major producing countries like Vietnam.
A prolonged drought in Vietnam has had a significant impact on the harvest of Robusta coffee beans, crucial for espresso and instant coffee.
Since the 2023-2024 harvest in October, Vietnamese farmers have been short 150,000 to 200,000 tons of contracted beans.
The shortage has led to higher prices for consumers as supply struggles to meet demand.
Despite the long-term increase in coffee prices, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that US coffee prices have fallen by about 2.5 percent compared to the same period last May.
The most expensive state in the US to buy coffee is Hawaii, where the typical cost of a regular blend is a hefty $4.98 – about 59 percent above the national average.