The Rez Cafe raises prices in response to increasing minimum wage

The Rez Cafe has raised the prices of some of its coffee drinks due to the recent minimum wage increase in the state of Massachusetts. The student-run coffee shop, located in the Mayer Campus Center, serves as a social hub and has not seen a raise in prices since the '90s, according to its Facebook page.

Massachusetts passed legislation in 2018 that will increase the state-wide minimum wage by $1 per year over a five-year period until reaching $15 in 2023. Because of increasing wages, Rez operations managerTalia Smith was faced with a decision at the advice of the Office for Campus Life (OCL) — if she and the other managersNiamh Doyle and Chloe Weinerdidn't increase their prices, the Rez would have to close. 

Director of the OCL Joe Golia said in an interview with the Daily that he and Annie Wong, the business manager at the campus life financial office, forecasted the future financial viability of the Rez by examining increases in minimum wage as well as increasing operations costs for the business.

Golia emphasized that the increasing minimum wage and increasing day-to-day costs, such as the Rez obtaining a new refrigerator, meant that prices would need to increase. According to Golia, he and Wong suggested several different paths the Rez could take aside from increasing prices, including cutting staff and changing their hours.

Both Smith and Golia said that the Rez needs to break even but doesn't need to operate on a for-profit basis. Smith and other Rez managers are working this semester on making the budgeting process more transparent to both the employees and students. In addition, Smith said that OCL was working with the Rez to make it more financially independent from the university.

Tufts students are largely unfazed by the change. Rez regular Gerard Frasca said that he is willing to spend more on specialty drinks.

“If there is a product they need to raise prices on, it makes sense that it is the specialty drinks,” Frasca said. 

The up-charge on specialty drinks is 50 cents, and there will be no additional costs on drip coffee after prices increased at the beginning of the semester, according to Smith.

Despite the increase, Massachusetts residents are still unable to live in any county just on the minimum wage alone, according to CNBC. Rez employee Nina Chukwura agrees, saying that there is still room for improvement with the new minimum wage.

“It is a good start, but it still is not enough to have a living wage,” Chukwura said.  

Frasca believes that raises in minimum wage should take economic context into consideration.

“The conversation surrounding minimum wage should be less nominal," Frasca said. "A regular conversation would incorporate inflation, where the minimum wage shows as raising but in reality it is falling.” 

Smith said that the Rez has low operation costs and that because they do not pay building costs, they can budget to buy from Equal Exchange and support co-ops all over the world. The Rez and its employees continue to try to find a balance between coffee at an affordable price and maintaining quality. 

“[We] still wants to make it accessible by taking feedback and show that the employees are in charge of everything,” Smith told the Daily. "There has been a lot of administrative changes, so we have to adjust to these changes to stay afloat.” 

Moving forward, Frasca maintains an optimistic view. 

“Policy is you get any sized drink for the price of a small if you bring your own cup, so maybe it’ll incentivize people to bring their own cups and ultimately reduce waste,” Frasca said. 

Chukwura said that she is not worried about the increase in prices affecting Rez patronage. Other changes, like closing the Rez well before midnight, will also help to alleviate financial stress, as it currently costs the Rez more to operate between the hours of 10 p.m. and 12 a.m. than the coffee shop makes during those hours.

From the student perspective, the Rez serves a promise to keep all beverages under $5, according to Smith.

"No price change would affect me going at all. I love The Rez and I will always go to The Rez," Frasca told the Daily.