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Originally Posted by
Silverlight
NZ's coffee culture is well evolved, and Starbucks culture is to say their way is the best, which grates with NZers and the NZ coffee culture. However, they did have real baristas, which most people appreciate, as being a barista does take skill and that, in my mind, is what you pay for in a $5+ cup.
Interesting comments Silverlight, from the pesrpective of view of someone who is not a coffee connoisseur (me). This is going to sound rather low brow to you, but I often judge a cafe by whether they can serve a hot drink that is actually hot. It is surprising the number that cannot do this, (although I should point out that I do not frequent Starbucks).
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I appreciate a well made espresso, but so many cafes that have a espresso machine have average barista's. Starbucks always had above average barista's in my view, and Starbucks policy of replace your drink if you are not happy, and give you a free voucher for the next one, always has gone down well with me, as I would happily go buy a latte or an americano, knowing that if I wasn't happy I could take it back and the next one would also be free.
As a shareholder this free voucher policy will be costing me! But if it keeps customers happy, then I am happy for Starbucks to do it.
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Additionally some starbucks beans are superior in quality and flavour to beans roasted in NZ (ie Kenyan and Italian) and this is a misnomer among most coffee experts in NZ, as they dismiss starbucks straight away; however this point is rather moot as coffee bean sales are not large and probably never will be.
I presume you are talking about the takeaway packaged beans here? Good point about people dismissing coffee beans just because they are branded Starbucks. But as you say I am sure those counter sales are part of the total image rather than contributing seriously to profitability with New Zealand.
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RBD though have always run Starbucks as if a latte is the same as a piece of chicken, stick it in the deep frier for 2 minutes, pull it out, presto. Therefore maybe the training of barista's has led to a variability in the product being delivered, as some baristas working for the chain clearly indulge in being a barista and make an excellent coffee, where others don't care and make just a nice coffee. This variability in product is hard to control unless you remove the barista from the equation, replace with a machine and you get a consistent product, average, but consistent.
The question is though, are you saying you cannot program a coffee machine to do a cup of coffee right, for most people? Do you give your barista special instructions, or do you leave everything up to them?
SNOOPY