Babycino Inflation

[RobWD]

I?ve just returned from the newly ?refurbished? Dulwich Picture Gallery cafe. It?s my sometime Wednesday morning haunt with my 18 month old son. Asked for our usual, 1 flat white, a pain au chocolat and a babycino. 7 quid. Queried with staff and this was correct apparently. 3 quid for the flat white, 3 quid for the pastry and a quid for a shot of lukewarm milk in an espresso mug. Even my 18 month old was taken aback. Daddy we paid only ?6.50 for the same only 3 weeks ago he said (spoken in gibberish but I knew what he meant). It got me thinking... have we finally hit the ?1 babycino? I remember this feeling about the ?5 pint that I now accept as the norm. What next? The 8 quid glass of Merlot? The 5 quid sourdough loaf? These days may already be upon us.

I?ve decided not to accept that price in future and luckily i still have the following options for the same order.

Gail?s ?5.60

Rocca ?4.40

A shame really as I?ve always liked the ambiance of the Picture Gallery Cafe - and may I also add the coffee was acceptable and staff perfectly friendly. A quick google of the operating company ?Gather and Gather? shows that they are based on Floor 12 of the Shard. High overheads I guess. And I believe the name refers to what they do with piles of cash at the end of each day.

Anyway just thought I?d post this as a warning to any avid babycino fans out there.... some of you may be happy with the quid babycino. Unfortunately it?s just a little too much for this dad.

[robbin]

Classic!

[nxjen]

Wind up. First time poster.

[RobWD]

Long time reader but just plucked up the courage to post for the first time.

Post was obviously tongue in cheek but I did genuinely feel a bit ripped off. Just thought I?d let other parents with young children know about the new prices at the cafe.

[fishbiscuits]

?4.40 at Rocca is good! Do they do the kids drink free?

[JohnL]

these toddlers are so economically aware :).

[edcam]

Just wait til after Brexit. That bill will be much bigger.

[RobWD]

Yes free in Rocca I believe! They also have managed to get the 50:50 milk to froth ratio right.

If anyone has any other free/cheap Babycino recommendations please do share!

[ed_pete]

Personally, I'd have felt ripped off at ?6.50.

[TheCat]

Id be keen to see Louisa's reaction to this thread....

..and not the new and improved 'Loutwo'...proper old school Louisa....

[singalto]

Why would you buy a babychino in the first place? I couldn?t believe they even existed until I heard someone tell her child to drink his!

[rendelharris]

Why not, it's only hot milk with some chocolate on it and kids love it, both for taste and a "being the same as the grownups" bit of fun. A lot better than giving them Coke or similar.

[RobWD]

Ed_pete... now you mention it am I a little surprised I paid that much to be honest with you. I guess my routine with a toddler of parks and cafes has normalised the ridiculous prices around here. It?s just taken for the prices to get to 7 quid for me to say ?no more?.

Why would one buy a Babycino? I?m all for anything that will keep a child occupied while I enjoy a coffee.... which when you put it like that it may be well worth the 1 pound!

[TheCat]

RobWD Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

>I?m all for anything that will keep a child occupied while I enjoy a

> coffee....

Rob, you could of course just choose to get yourself one of those now ubiquitous ?5 pints, therefore keeping yourself occupied instead of the child....

[JohnL]

TheCat Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> RobWD Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> >I?m all for anything that will keep a child

> occupied while I enjoy a

> > coffee....

>

> Rob, you could of course just choose to get

> yourself one of those now ubiquitous ?5 pints,

> therefore keeping yourself occupied instead of the

> child....

?5 is normal now not special unless your in a spoons :)

[yeknomyeknom]

When I hear parents ordering babychinos instead of warm milk, I am reminded of candy cigarettes. Ok, coffee isn?t as big a health risk but talk about training your child.

[EP212]

I went to Horniman Cafe and daughter wanted a snack so got a ginger biscuit and a raspberry lemonade, paid ?5. ?2.50 each, seriously ?2.50 for a tiny biscuit? It's crazy!!

[Sue]

EP212 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I went to Horniman Cafe and daughter wanted a

> snack so got a ginger biscuit and a raspberry

> lemonade, paid ?5. ?2.50 each, seriously ?2.50 for

> a tiny biscuit? It's crazy!!

To be fair, entry to most of the Horniman is free, so like many museums and galleries they probably depend on making money from food, drinks and gifts.

[Passiflora]

Never heard of a babycino but thanks for enlightening us Rob!

[tomskip]

So shocked that a pint is ?5.

[TheCat]

I ordered my toddler son a 'babylager' the other day....got some funny looks...probably because he was smoking a 'babyfag' at the time too...and shouting to the whole pub how the influx of new babies in the last 6 months have ruined the area, and how its not like it was back in the good old days in 2016 when babies could leave their prams unlocked...

[rcmacf]

TheCat Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I ordered my toddler son a 'babylager' the other

> day....got some funny looks...probably because he

> was smoking a 'babyfag' at the time too...and

> shouting to the whole pub how the influx of new

> babies in the last 6 months have ruined the area,

> and how its not like it was back in the good old

> days in 2016 when babies could leave their prams

> unlocked...

Marvelous! Thanks. That was my thinking, too, the first time I heard "babyccino" in the cafe I manage. I had to figure out what to charge for these abominaccinos, and we have some good costing models, based on a decade of sales. So, here you go (assuming fully compostable stuff like we use)

Milk: 1.5p

Take away cup and lid: 10p

Straw: 1.5p

Barista's time: 30p - We base this on dividing the Barista's pay by the number of coffees made per year, and we make loads and loads, so for the gallery it's probably more like 40-45p

So, that's about 43p for your babyccino, without the markup that the cafe needs to make a profit. If they are charging you less than about ?1 then they are going out of business, and they have realised this, hence the price rise. Oh, and don't forget the 20% tax, paid on items sold, and income.

Then, there's the cleanup time it takes once the staff get access to the bombsite left behind (but that's a whole other thing. :-) )

[rcmacf]

PS

It's not all that obvious that the first post was tongue in cheek.

[miga]

Ours are a bit older than yours by the sounds of it RobWD, but a few years ago (2013/2014) there was no such thing as a decent babycino in all of ED - we had to explain what the beverage was. And half the time you'd still end up with a cup of scolding hot milk - not the cup full of froth we'd become used to Down Under. Sounds like at least the cafes have lifted their game on that front.

Still reeling from the ?5 pint a decade after the fact though.

[peckman]

I too was taken aback at the quid babychino! But rmcsmf makes one good point . It's probably costs the cafe a quid to clean up after the mess my little angel makes after it despite my best efforts to tidy up .