Starbucks has announced that it will raise the prices on some popular drinks like Macchiatos and Fraps and lower the prices on coffee and some latte to continue to try to compete in the new economy driven coffee wars with the likes of McDonalds, Sonic, Panera, and others. You can read the whole article at the NY Times.

For a lot of people this is where the rubber will meet the road. I figure three things will happen:

• Customers will try other coffee drinks that are less expensive and decide they are close enough.
• Customers will try other coffee drinks and decide they would rather pay the extra.
• Customers will stick with Starbucks and just drink less.

Or …maybe some of them will start making frappuccinos at home. The thing that I think is funny is that there is always a segment of the population that will think because the Starbucks is more expensive it is going to taste better, which is not necessarily true.

Here’s the deal: People’s tastes are different. Some people drink Maxwell House or Folgers and are completely happy with it. Some of them have tried Starbucks and Peets and Green Mountain and honestly prefer the Maxwell House. Somewhere on the way to the caffeine jitters coffee drinkers turned into snobs and decided that if you don’t like the right coffee you have no taste.

I love me some good coffee. I am also a foodie and I am particular about the tastes I like. Ice Cream? Homemade or Breyers. Despite my almost imperceptible Texas drawl I cannot stand Blue Bell. Ick. The chemicals stomp aross my tastebuds like they were wearing muck boots. Does that mean that everyone that likes Blue Bell has no taste?

Well yeah, it kind of does….

No, of course not. It means that I like what I like.

Whatever Starbucks does, whether it raises or lowers prices? You should be true to what you like. Don’t buy it because it is the cool thing to buy, or because you think it will make you look more sophisticated and knowledgeable – drink it because you like it…and only for that reason.

Image:sxc

Post from: Kettle and Cup

It seems to me that Starbucks is either experiencing adolescent angst or a corporate wide multiple personality disorder…or maybe they are grasping at straws. Over the past year they have:

• Added protein shakes
• Added sandwiches and other lunch items
• Pushed  “new”instant coffee which tastes like “old” Maxwell House instant

I think there were a few other things. Now, that isn’t enough so they are trying to lose the Starbucks name and give their shops a new moniker. They will be renaming the shops after the streets that they are on to give them a bit more local “Mom and Pop” flair.  I don’t know what they are going to do with the shop nearby that is on I-35 because I -35 Coffee and Tea doesn’t really do a lot for me. These local shops will be having things like poetry readings and live music…

Some will add wine and beer. So..is it a coffee shop or a bar and grill?

Maybe if they add strippers…

You can say what you want. You can say I am being critical, picky, heard-hearted…But the fact remains that Starbucks is losing sight of the fact that when you try to be all things to all people you become nothing to anyone. Starbucks has muddied the waters rather than waiting it out.

Sure, it is easy to say hat I would do from the position of my couch but I think I have a valid solution.

1. Focus on coffee and tea drinks
2. Bring in local pastries
3. If there are more than 2 locations in a 10 mile radius close one of them
4. Cut advertising budget 85 percent
5. Cut  salaries by 1/4 for everyone making over 150,000.00 per year.
6. Pull out of everything that is not directly coffee or tea related:movies, dvds, radio stations…
7. Rediscover who Starbucks is and focus on that rather than being in competition with McDonalds or anyone else.

Now, in case I need to explain any of that….Most people just want a place to go for decent coffee. They want to meet friends, have business meetings or take a break. Maybe something a little sweet is nice. Having a local bakery supply pastries will stimulate the local economy and the pastry will be fresh.

There is an area near me that has 4 Starbucks within 2 miles. How dumb is that?

Advertising is unnecessary at this point. Starbucks doesn’t need it. Everyone knows who they are. Salary cuts? 1/4  of 150,000.00 is 37,000.00, leaving 113,000.00- the person would still be making more than enough money to live comfortably on yet the company would save a significant amount. It is called not killing the goose that lays the golden egg.

And I think the rest is self explanatory.

I don’t want to see Starbucks go under.  I want to see them flourish without being stupid. Now that they have run all the mom and pop places out of business if they go there is no one left.

If nothing else it will be interesting to watch…

image:sxc

Post from: Kettle and Cup

Well, move on from Bride Wars to Coffee Wars.  Starbucks, Panera, McDonalds, and Dunkin Donuts seem to be in a hand to throat battle over your coffee dollar.  Don’t you feel important?

It should seriously be a simple thing.  You should go where you like.  But it isn’t that easy, largely because we have become a brand motivated society.  We live in a society where a woman will call 911 to report that McDonald’s ran out of chicken nuggets.  Do you think maybe we are taking ourselves a little too seriously? Maybe we have lost sight of reality?

The honest to God truth is that most commercially brewed coffee is only marginally different and most people will buy coffee where ever it is convenient. If there is more than one choice then most people will go with brand unless they have had a bad experience.  And then they will go with comfort.

Most people will not worry about social issues, fair trade, Rain Forest Alliance, or even taste.  And yet the purveyors of coffee will try everything in the Politician”s Guide to Dirty Tricks to woo coffee drinkers to their side.

Basically it should be pretty simple.  We live in an over-extended economy.  Most coffee drinking should probably be done at home.  If you are going to grab a coffee out you need to consider the local mom and pop place (if there is one) as priority if possible.  Why? Because keeping things local, supporting the local economy is important.  Small businesses create quality products.  The bigger your business the more likely the product will suffer.  To me an ethical small business will know when to stop increasing in size.  They will be happy with enough and not require more.

Do you realize the mark up on coffee?  One pound of coffee beans will make about 30 cups of coffee.  Let’s say a pound of coffee retail costs 8.99, just for a base figure.  That works out to just under 30 cents a cup.  Thirty cents.   Now, what are you paying for a cup of coffee?  1.50?  that is a five hundred percent mark up.  Five hundred percent! Now, you need to figure in overhead and expenses but still..you are looking at a huge mark up.

So, coffee wars? Be aware of what is happening and decide for your self if you want to play. Watch your back though.

image:sxc

Post from: Kettle and Cup

I have tried hard not to comment on this.

I have tried hard not to comment on this.

I have tried hard not to comment on this.

I have……

Aaawww, junk.  I can’t do it.

If you haven’t heard, Starbucks will set coffee technology back fifty years next week and unveil its own instant coffee.

Yep.  Serious.  I half expect to hear that Gordon Ramsey is going to start serving Happy Meals. Mrs. Olson will be pleased to note that Starbucks has created an “Instant Coffee that replicates the flavor of Starbucks Coffee”…and only twenty years in the making.

I almost can’t talk about this because the possibilities for humor at Starbuck’s expense are so darn tempting.

It is like watching someone drowning, you know, or ….hmm…have you ever seen a 50 year old woman dressed in an outfit that a fifteen year old should be wearing?  That grasping state of being is the essence of Starbucks right now.  Rather than just bow out gracefully, accept the fact that they are no longer cutting edge and open the doors for the next big culture explosion, Starbucks seems to need to grasp at whatever it can like Cher clutching the plastic surgeon’s business card.

In honor of Starbucks newest folly I have to ask.  Do they know about flavor buds?

image:morguefile

Post from: Kettle and Cup

Starbucks seems to be grasping at anything that will keep it afloat.

I never like to see  a company do too many changes all at once.  It always reminds me of what insecure teen age girls do when they experience their first break up.  Anyway… Starbucks is going to be adding more tea items to the menu and expanding all things tea at the stores.

Once again I have to lament the lack of choice in the coffeehouse industry in my area.  It could be sour grapes (or coffee beans for that matter) on my part since our own shop closed…but having the choice of 6 or more Starbucks within a 10 mile radius is a little much, and it rather monopolizes the area.

Plus, to me, the dynamics of a coffee house and tea shop are different. A coffee house seems artsy, contemporary, upbeat…while a tea shop seems romantic, relaxing, and laid back.  To try to morph the two? Hmm…

I don’t think they are trying to do a proper tea.  I imagine they are hoping to be versatile enough to pick up a wide range of people.  Again, I just wonder if they are trying too hard right now.

image:Marye Audet

Post from: Kettle and Cup