More Than a Cup of Coffee
Starbucks Coffee automatically conjures a café atmosphere with upscale
coffee bar and chrome. Indeed, Starbucks is a household name when it comes to
coffee experience. It is one of the leading coffee shops dominating the market for
several decades now.
Starbucks Coffee was founded in Seattle, Washington on March 30, 1971
by partners English teacher Jerry Baldwin, history teacher Zev Siegl and writer
Gordon Bowker. They were inspired by entrepreneur Alfred Peet to sell high-
quality coffee beans. In 1982, Howard Schultz joined the company and advised
that the company should sell coffee and espresso drinks together with coffee
beans. Now, Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world with over
17,000 outlets worldwide. Aside from selling coffee drinks and beans, the
company also markets books, music, mugs and tumblers which are seasonal or
specific to the locality of the store.
Truly, Starbucks had done an excellent job in establishing its name being
one of the most recognizable brand names today. And it seems that there is
something special in its coffee experience that’s why it has been the icon of
coffee fix.
Starbucks isn’t the first company who introduced good coffee to people.
However, it did turn its coffee into an identity. Starbucks has a brand promise and
shows a desire for social status granting that its coffee is estimated to be 7,000
percent hike than local coffee shops.
Moreover, since the opening of its first outlets in Seattle, the company has
striven to be more than just a coffee shop. According to Starbucks President and
CEO Howard Schultz, the company is dedicated in engaging in human
connection; hence, it created a third place community between home and work.
The Third Place concept manifests in the design of Starbucks shops worldwide.
The store design is meant in creating comfort and social interaction having
upholstered chairs with hard-backed chairs around tables. Also, most Starbucks
stores offer free Wi-Fi access and free electricity if the customers want to plug
their laptop on. Indeed, Starbucks features a place where customers can just
settle in and hang out with friends for a while.
Even then, Starbucks started out as a premium coffee roaster and stayed
with its roots serving excellent coffee. In July 2008, the company has announced
that they would be changing the way in making its coffee in an effort to provide
the best coffee taste possible. This includes a commitment in grinding and
brewing many coffee varieties to order and discarding coffee beans that takes
more than thirty minutes to brew.
Also, baristas are ordered not to wear strong perfumes because it might
interfere the coffee aroma, as well as all Starbucks around the world are non-
smoking indoors. The coffee-centric atmosphere is one the major reasons why
people are gone crazy in experiencing Starbucks coffee. In fact, serving
breakfast sandwiches was only short-lived due to it overpowers the coffee
aroma. Smelling like any other diner is an image the company never wants to
present.
Starbucks extends its coffee experience in brewing your own coffee at
home. The coffee roasts Starbucks is offering possess rich coffee flavor and
aroma present inside Starbucks stores. The roasts tend to lean heavily toward
darker roasts because the consistency of flavor is easier to maintain.
In the recent years, the company has diversified itself in marketing books,
newspapers and CDs. It brings a renegade approach in reaching out to
Starbucks fanatics emerging to be a self-appointed culture guru.
Starbucks Coffee live with its image of excellent coffee in a comfortable
surroundings with service-oriented staff. The company has succeeded in creating
great tasting drinks becoming a household name in terms of coffee experience.
In fact, the company has taken a step further in giving customers more than just
a cup of coffee.
References:
Gross, Daniel, Starbucks vs. Its Addicts, October 2004, http://www.slate.com
Starbucks Coffee and the People Who Drink It, June 2010, http://www.ireallylikefood.com Smith, David, The man who knows why we're so hooked on coffee, January 2007, http://www.nootropics.com
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