The founder of upmarket coffee chain Grind has claimed that his £4.10 flat whites only make an 18p profit.
Grind, which got its start in London’s east end in 2011 out of David Abrahamovitch’s father’s old mobile shop on the Old Street roundabout, has a large menu of coffees starting at £3.20 for an espresso. The most expensive coffee on its menu, a salted caramel frappe, costs £5.80.
But the founder has claimed that its costly coffees are justified by the cost breakdown, which has to take into consideration the staff costs, the goods they come in, rent for the building and VAT.
Per Mr Abrahamovitch’s calculations, for a £4.10 flat white, £1.60 is assigned to staff costs, paying the salaries of baristas, waiters and head office. A further 55p accounts for the mugs and paper cups the coffee comes in; another 96p is for core operating costs, VAT takes 68 p and then various discounting costs add 13p. Mr Abrahamovitch claims this means he makes 18p profit on each flat white.
To justify the price, he told The Times: “Our flat white has to be best in class.”
He added: “The truth is, it’s not just coming for a coffee. It’s an escape from the office, a treat for a moment in the day. Almost like when people used to nip out for a cigarette break.”
The firm reportedly claimed that other costs are on the rise, which they have tried not to pass on to customers. The price of green coffee beans, which have yet to be roasted, has more than doubled since 2024.
Mr Abrahamovitch’s coffee brand has franchised out into 11 sites and three trucks across the UK since 2011. It also has a franchise in Dubai airport, a partnership with British Airways, and produces coffee pods and canned drinks stocked across the UK.
The UK’s biggest cafe chains are thought to be losing custom to premium coffee brands such as Grind and Black Sheep, according to analysis from hospitality data provider Meaningful Vision for the Financial Times in January.
Costa Coffee, which was reportedly at risk of being sold by Coca-Cola at the start of the year, was not the only chain under pressure; Starbucks closed stores in the UK last year and Pret A Manger dropped in value last September.
