Starbucks has become ubiquitous now as America's coffeehouse, and in some places there are stores literally across the street from each other. There are 15,000 stores in 44 countries as of the present, and although growth has slowed, the company shows no sign of stopping expansion. It's a corporate powerhouse at this point, being not only the biggest coffeehouse in the U.S. but the world as well. The irony of all this is that in the beginning, Starbucks was a Seattle-based (go figure - the home of good coffee and indie ideals) coffee roaster and retailer.
What can we learn from Starbucks? At first glance, a lot. The company is constantly on the cutting edge for humanitarian and charitable efforts, including its contribution to the growing ideals of fair trade. It's a relief to see that in this day and age, there exists a CEO who wants to make sure that the "company's culture doesn't dilute in the face of expansion". Howard Schultz wants to run Starbucks like a small company. This makes me like Howard Schultz.
Globalization, even with all of it's negatives, is an undeniable factor in our everyday lives now. If a company is going to expand across the world, it might as well act like Starbucks.
There aren't many global corporations that make an effort to be this environmentally friendly (SB is 15 on the EPA's Top 25 Green Power Partners for purchases of Renewable Energy), nor are there many food-based companies that make an effort to obtain better ingredients. There is, in fact, a reason that Starbucks' coffee costs 2 dollars while McDonalds' cost 1. It's because they buy beans at over 2 times the commodity prices from fair-trade regulated farmers. It's also because they buy paper products that are made partially from recycled materials (they innovated the useage - SB was the first to get granted the FDA's approval to use recycled materials in food packaging). Hell, they even reduced solid waste output by 1.8 million pounds in 2004. That's admirable, no matter what angle you look at it from.
Of course there are criticisms and complaints. Environmentalists argue that Starbucks could be doing more to help the environment. Others argue that they should be buying more of their coffee Fair Trade Certified. Some people argue that they are just working towards more American imperialism (as they do have stores all across the world). Maybe these faults are legitimate. But compared to some other companies (cough, major fast food chains; Haha, do you sense a common theme in these blog posts yet?), Starbucks are true crusaders working for a better way to run a food corporation.
The culture of awareness that is growing everything here in America should give at least some credit to companies like Starbucks. Even though terms like "Fair Trade", as well as the idea that your purchase can help others (as is the case with the Product(Red) campaign) seem like the status quo now, it would have never happened without the push of influence from large companies like Starbucks. Hell yeah, they could have taken the easy way out. But they didn't. That's not to say that they don't have things to improve on, but regardless, it's more than what others are doing. With any luck, they'll follow suit.
Did I forget to describe the coffee? It's good. Better, certainly, than average. Especially that Pike's Peak Roast. It's smooth, with an almost cocoa-laced aftertaste, and hints of subtle spice (not too much floral or citrus, but that's really Africa's domain). If I do have a criticism, it's that the tea sort of sucks (not-the-best-leaves in traditional [see: crappy] tea bags). But it's a small criticism; after all, it's Starbucks Coffee, not tea. Also, does anyone remember that 10 years ago, we barely had any choices for coffee drinks? Hey, thanks, Starbucks. Thanks for making the mocha latte (shown at top) a commoner. It's delicious.
What can we learn from Starbucks? Maybe it's the idea that large corporations can really be aware of what's good for us and our world. Maybe it's the idea that quality ingredients speak for themselves. Whatever it is, I like it. Cheers.
No comments:
Post a Comment