McDonald's Coffee Is Headed to Your Home (but Not as Cheaply as You'd Think)

Have you always dreamt of sipping McDonald’s coffee first thing in the morning without having to sleepily trek to a drive-thru?

If so, good news: On Tuesday, the international burger juggernaut announced its plans to jump headfirst into the retail coffee game early next year with the McCafe “premium roast” coffee line.

The move squarely places McDonald’s in territory previously dominated by Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, and other brands of joe that have established shops.

Sure, the in-store McDonald’s coffee is currently among the cheapest cups-to-go consumers can buy, but will its retail coffee line follow suit?

According to our research, the answer is “no.” We looked at the cost of a pound of ground coffee (adjusting prices to account for varying bag sizes) across five brands—McDonald’s, Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, Peet’s Coffee & Tea, and Seattle’s Best—and found that although McDonald’s has the cheapest in-house coffee, retail coffee is clearly a whole new (and more expensive) ball game.

Check it out for yourself in the graphic below:

coffee
coffee

Illustration credit: Jen Fox. (Click here for larger version)