Cost of a cuppa complaint letter stirs cafe owners

Toast Cafe and Deli owners Paul and Claire Wright say their prices are "in line with other independent cafes"

The owners of an award-winning cafe were taken aback to get a letter in the post complaining about the cost of a cuppa.

The anonymous customer put pen to paper to write to the Toast Cafe and Deli after their "shock" about having to pay £2.20 for a cup of tea.

It cost them another 75p for the second class stamp to send it 12 miles (19km) to the cafe in Wrexham.

The author of the letter said it was "no wonder OAPs cannot go out" in the cost of cuppa crisis plea.

The cafe posted a photo of the letter on Facebook with a comparison of its prices and other cafes in Wrexham.

"Whilst prepping the cafe ready to reopen tomorrow morning from 10am, we received this letter which was posted to us from a customer from Chester," the post said.

The hand-written letter sent by Royal Mail says "it's no wonder OAPs (old age pensioners) cannot go out"

Owners Claire and Paul Wright won the top cafe in Wales prize at the best of Welsh business awards in Cardiff, and received the good food blue ribbon for delicious dishes award 2023.

"Paul and I feel disappointed and shocked to receive this letter where the customer felt compelled to write to us to complain about the price of a cuppa and also buy a stamp to post it to us," Claire said.

"We have always tried to keep our prices in line with other independent cafes and coffee shops in Wrexham city centre."

According to research done by the cafe owner, some other similar independents in Wrexham are charging between £2.29 and £2.50 for a cuppa, with the average price £2.42.

They added: "Did you know when we buy food and drink from a small cafe, it's hardly even about the cost to cover the ingredients and staff wages to create and serve the food and drink - the majority of the transaction amount is to cover all the overheads to actually just have a business.

"We know things are hard for everyone at the moment and more so for pensioners and during these difficult times, we are trying not to pass the costs onto our customers but we feel we charge a reasonable price for our food and drink."