It’s made with the highest-quality, ethically sourced 100% arabica beans. The magic is in a proprietary, all-natural process that we spent years perfecting. We microgrind the coffee in a way that preserves all of their essential oils and flavor. No other coffee company takes this step, and it makes all the difference.
After closing down several stores and scaling down future store openings in the face of declining profits, Starbucks has now come up with what seems to be a desperate plan to stop the bleeding. They are now going to be selling breakfast sandwiches and instant coffee.
In the meantime, they deny there are plans to sell franchises of the Starbucks brand as they recently did with their other chain, Seattle's Best, on the grounds that they want to retain control of the company's image and brand. I guess they are hoping they won't end up going down with the ship, but something tells me they still haven't quite acclimated to the idea of being the rats that desert it on its way down. If they go down, they are going to go down fighting until the bitter end.
There has even been what seems to be a socialist inspired suggestion that the company might allow for some form of worker control, but I don't see that going anywhere soon, even though the company is getting desperate for answers and the employees are starting to lose patience.
Still, who knows? By the time its all over with, they might turn the company mascot into a live-action cartoon television marketing character like Ronald MacDonald.
I just think this is a sure indication of how grim the overall economy has become. Here we have a company that made a success story out of selling what is basically coffee based beverages, for four dollars and more a cup, about to go under. So, what do they turn to? Instant coffee, a beverage that acquired popularity with people too busy to either take the time to perk that morning coffee at home or to stop for a cup to go at the local diner.
Instant coffee, for a dollar a buck-at Starbucks. The real irony is pretty obvious if you've ever priced a eight ounce jar of instant coffee in comparison to say a 32 ounce can of regular brand name coffee such as Folgers or Maxwell House. Believe me, the regular coffee is far and away your better value. Yet, Starbucks claims their instant coffee is just as good as the regular coffee. Some people who tested it seem to like it, with one woman actually claiming the instant coffee was better because it wasn't quite as strong.
Seeing as how manufacturing instant coffee is a tedious and expensive process, and seeing as how the rise in demand is likely to push the price upwards, I just don't think this is a very good long-term strategy.
13 comments:
Some Starbucks stores in Minneapolis, are unionized by the IWW.
The instant coffee idea, which is a vulgar departure from its vision, must be based on McDonald's best seller, the $1.00 double cheeseburger. That wasn't McDonald's plan. They wanted the low priced hamburger, to just be a bait.
I know, and I don't think it will work. It might even cost them money in the long run.
They would be better off having special promotions, like a "Happy Hour" or two-for-one deals, or offering a free breakfast sandwich with every seven dollar purchase, etc.
They're going to shit when they see that most of their new customers are of what they would consider a lower social class, probably some of them even coming in with panhandled money for that dollar cup of coffee, while their regular customer base just falls flat.
What's the first thing everyone says when someone starts complaining about money?
"Stop getting Starbucks".
Poor Starbucks has been the automatic blame of people's tight financial situations for as long as I can remember. I'm not surprised they're struggling.
Starbucks is in trouble mainly because they overextended themselves, which is never a good idea, especially when you are basically a niche market. They'll probably survive this, and eventually they will probably even bounce back bigger than ever, but this should teach them a much needed lesson.
Well, because of this, I'm going to Starbucks this morning.
Danielle-
What's your favorite thing there? I hate to admit it, but I've never been to a Starbucks. If they have instant coffee in your area stores, you should try them and do a comparison. That would make a good blog post.
Sure, I'll do that. Just for you.
Danielle-
I bet that stuff really tastes good. I could get into getting me some of that right about now. Or soon as I can get me some.
The instant coffees are medium roast, which are higher in acid and caffeine than dark roast.
Is that Starbuck's instant or just instant coffee in general? They claim that their instant is superior to others because it retains more of the natural essential oils that are usually lost in the manufacturing process of other instant coffee brands.
In general store brand coffees are medium roast.
I like smooth, dark coffee.
I'm not use to anything but medium roast. Coffee and tobacco are my main addictions, a killer combination.
A long time ago, people used to be able to buy bags of fresh coffee beans. They are naturally green, they are only made black by roasting. People would roast them in their ovens on something like a cookie sheet, spread them out in a single layer, and after they were roasted, they would then grind them up into the familiar grounds.
It was supposedly better coffee than anything you could ever get now if the procedure was performed right. Nowadays I think all coffee is roasted prior to importation.
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