London Cafe's £1.50 Blueberry Pot with Just Six Berries Sparks Widespread Ridicule
An upmarket London coffee house has been ridiculed for selling pots containing merely six blueberries for £1.50, translating to a staggering price of £75 per kilogram. The posh cafe, Blend, located within the 62-storey skyscraper at 22 Bishopsgate, offers these blueberries as toppings for porridge, a move that has ignited fierce criticism from consumers and social media users alike.
Price Comparison Highlights Extreme Markup
By contrast, a nearby Tesco Express sells blueberries for £2.20 per 150 grams, equating to £14.67 per kilogram. This stark difference underscores the premium being charged at Blend, where the cost per kilogram is over five times higher than the supermarket rate. The exorbitant pricing has not gone unnoticed, with many questioning the value and ethics of such a product.
Social Media Erupts with Outrage and Mockery
On Reddit, social media users expressed outrage at the cost of the fruit. One user commented, 'Anyone who buys a pot of five blueberries deserves to be ripped off.' Another wrote, 'That is absolutely disgusting. A massive waste of plastic and a massive rip off.' A parent pointed out the impracticality, noting, 'If blueberries cost this much everywhere, my toddler would be working through around £20 worth of blueberries per day.' Metro has contacted 22 Bishopsgate for a statement regarding the pricing strategy.
Blend's Coffee Prices Offer Some Respite
Interestingly, while Blend sells expensive blueberries, its coffee is much cheaper in comparison. However, this is not the first instance of high-priced items in London's cafe scene. In 2024, a Mayfair bar, Shot, went viral for selling a speciality coffee from Okinawa for £265, available in various forms like espresso, macchiato, and flat white. Their menu also included a £70 Haiti-based coffee drink and a £32 St Helena-made option.
Historical Context of Luxury Coffee in London
In 2020, a coffee shop in Mayfair, Queens of Mayfair, owned by sisters Grace and Victoria Sheppard, sold a cup of coffee for £50, dubbed the 'Cup of Excellence'. According to the owners, this particular blend was purchased at auction by its roaster, Difference Coffee Co, and was exclusively offered to one other company in the UK. The beans, sourced from Ethiopia, are extremely rare and award-winning, having won the Cup of Excellence Competition, which explains the name.
The retail price of these beans was around £2,000 per kilogram, justifying the high cost. For £50, customers received a superb presentation, with the coffee served in a crystal wine glass and the beans ground by hand. This historical context highlights a trend of luxury pricing in London's food and beverage sector, though the blueberry offering at Blend has struck a particular nerve due to its perceived lack of value and environmental impact.
