(Image:Fuel Coffee)
The Fuel Coffee chain has announced it is re-instituting tipping at its three Seattle cafes as it tries to balance reasonable latte prices with fair compensation for its employees.
Ownership says it has been tip-free since 2020 when it instituted service charges but is bringing the practice back as they cut wages to Seattle’s upcoming $21.30 an hour minimum to counteract the soaring price of coffee beans. CORRECTION: CHS didn’t get this right. Fuel adjusted its prices in 2020 but did not institute a service charge. Sorry for the error.
“Based on our own research, along with customer and employee feedback, we’ve come to the conclusion that we would not be able to raise prices to the necessary degree needed to cover cost increases, pay our baristas a competitive wage, and still remain a viable option in the community,” Fuel said in its announcement.
Fuel says it is making the switch in a way it hopes will protect its employees, guaranteeing “that all team members will earn at least their current wages through the end of November–and if they don’t we will make up the difference.”
“We are confident this change will allow our staff to earn more than they currently are, but we will reassess and make adjustments by December 1st, 2025 if we are mistaken,” the Fuel announcement says.
The new wages began November 1st.
As the price of goods continues to inflate and facing continued increases in wages and employee costs, more Seattle service businesses may be following Fuel’s lead.
The signs of a change come a decade after the first shifts away from tipping in Seattle’s food and drink industry. CHS reported here in 2015 as Renee Erickson’s major opening of the Bateau restaurant project on E Union made a notable tipless debut.
Ten years later, Bateau has been shuttered for months as its concept is reconfigured amid a greatly changed Seattle restaurant landscape.
In 2026, the inflation-pegged Seattle minimum wage will reach $21.30.
Last year, efforts to soften the Seattle wage met with stiff opposition as District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth backed off a proposal to permanently extend a tip credit put in place ten years ago to protect the city’s small businesses during the phase-in of the higher minimum wage tied to inflation. His office has said it remains set on leaving the tip credit behind despite some of Mayor Bruce Harrell’s comments on the campaign trail.
Meanwhile, Seattle voters are deciding this week on an overhaul of the city’s B&O tax that would exempt any business generating less than $2 million a year from the city’s B&O tax while raising the tax rate on the city’s most prosperous companies like Amazon and Starbucks. The proposal would eliminate or reduce the tax for around 90% of Seattle businesses while generating an estimated $81 million in new revenue.
Fuel, part of the Ada’s family of cafes and bookstores owned by Danielle and David Hulton, has three locations including 19th Ave E, Montlake, and Wallingford. Last year, Fuel shut down its short-lived run in the old Vivace walk-up. Tiny Bean Espresso is now doing its thing in the counter bar.
You can read more about the changes at fuelcoffeeseattle.com/tipping.
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