TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Following decisions by fast food chains and restaurants to hike prices, Taiwan’s main coffee shops were now also mulling following suit, reports said Saturday (Nov. 20).

MacDonald’s, Subway and Din Tai Fung all recently announced price rises due to the increased cost of raw materials. Taiwan’s numerous coffee shop chains were next in line to face pressure to hike menu prices, CNA reported.

American-owned Starbucks lost money in Taiwan during the three previous quarters because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it will not consider price rises for the time being, said Alex Lo (羅智先), the chairman of Uni-President Enterprises, which runs the coffee chain’s Taiwan branches. He described the chain’s losses as “unprecedented,” but said the company was still managing to survive.

One of its competitors, cama café, also told CNA it was not planning any price rises for the time being. Louisa Coffee, with 524 outlets one of the most rapidly growing chains in Taiwan, said it was “discussing relevant topics,” but no decision had apparently been reached yet.