Shira Nathan

Two bottles of apple juice in the cafeteria vending machine

You know the feeling of a 5 minute block-day class break and then deciding to take a stroll over to the Commons vending machines. All day you’ve been waiting for a refreshing drink to soothe your liquid sweet tooth, so you choose the apple juice. You’re expecting it to be anywhere from 50 cents to $1.50, only to find out that the apple juice is now… $2.00?! 

That’s right, Apple Juice is back, but not without a price increase. Before, the apple juice in the vending machines cost $1.25; now it’s $2.00 for the snack time favorite.

Students around Centaurus have varied thoughts on this price increase. Katelyn Weaver (’25, she/her) said, “Honestly the price is way too high. You can get a whole bottle of Apple Juice at the store for like $4, and that thing is only like 8oz? Not for me.” Another student, Violet Lafond-Patterson (’25, she/they) asked, “Where is this money even going?” And the last student, Charlie Coleman (’25, he/him), had very strong opinions, he said, “This is absolutely preposterous and whoever made that decision is wrong. A lot of people drink apple juice everyday and depend on that drink for vitamins and if they raise the price, it means Centaurus doesn’t care about its students.” 

Differing opinions aside, the Apple Juice is probably going to maintain the same price. But, why did the Apple juice price go up? One easy explanation is inflation.

You’ve probably heard people talk about inflation before, but what does it really mean? According to the International Monetary Fund, inflation is “The measure of increase/how much more expensive goods and services have become over a period of time, usually a year.” So basically, price increases on goods and services over a year. This affects all of us as consumers, because when inflation is high, so are prices. In 2021, the average rate of inflation was 4.70%. This rate skyrocketed in 2022 with an average inflation rate of 8.00% – meaning prices went up, up, and up again. Now in 2023, it is a bit more controlled with a predicted inflation rate of around 4% (depending where you ask). This potentially explains why the Apple Juice increased to  $2.00. 

While price increases can be annoying, the study of inflation can actually be very interesting. Why do these things happen? How does this help our economy? At the end of the day, the apple juice in the vending machine is a staple to the CHS experience and, sadly, it is a bit more expensive now. Now we want to hear from all of you on the matter. Feel free to share your thoughts with us on how you feel about the new Apple Juice price, or other Centaurus related price-increases in the comments below!