Starbucks hikes prices with more on the way, but insists demand is ‘very strong’

Starbucks hikes prices with more on the way, but insists demand is ‘very strong’

Starbucks (SBUX) customers are staying loyal to the Seattle-based coffee giant despite a higher cost for their cup of coffee, even as political pressure mounts in response to rising prices.

In a phone interview with Yahoo Finance after Starbucks' fiscal first-quarter earnings results, CEO Kevin Johnson said customer demand during the holiday season was "very strong" with revenue growth of 19%, coming in at a record $8.1 billion dollars for the coffee giant.

Like a growing number of companies confident in the consumer's ability to handle higher prices, Starbucks also raised prices in October, and at the end of January. Yet Johnson said the company did it in a "very targeted way" as it faced a trifecta of supply chain strains, inflation and rising labor costs.