(Disclosure: I've been a Starbucks shareholder over the years, and if I was masochistic enough to look at a brokerage statement these days I could tell you for sure if I'm in the stock now.)
I haven't been a Starbucks fan for quite a while now for one main reason- their coffee has gone way downhill since their meteoric expansion. They've been a victim of their own success- it's much, much harder to source a million pounds of quality coffee beens than it is to procure 100,000 pounds. I get that, really.
You either buy into the whole half-caff mocha java tall/grande/venti one Equal one Splenda no foam whip Frappicino thing or you don't, but my main beef is the quality of the coffee and the mass produced pastries that are so heinously overpriced it offends me when I have to spend money there while at an airport.
Having said all that, I was fascinated by an article I came across today that really made me aware of the nasty coffee war going on against Starbucks:
McDonald's has erected a billboard in sight of Starbucks headquarters declaring, "four bucks is dumb."If Dunkin' Donuts' taste test commercials were the schoolyard equivalent of blowing spitballs at the coffee giant from afar, then the latest from McDonald's is like pulling a wedgie. Starbucks employees driving northbound can see the billboard on their way into the city.
Another billboard slogan jabs, "large is the new grande." The two phrases are displayed on 140 billboards in Western Washington, some of them near Starbucks cafes.
Ouch.
Have a favorite coffee? I pick up a few coffees I like at Sprouts, but I've enjoyed a lot of Peet's coffee over the years.
When I was a Delivery Driver in the 80's I would go to the original Peets Coffee in Berkeley, Ca. It was located at Vine and Walnut Street. There was a crowd of Cal. students and local characters. I would see these people in the morning and when I returned in the afternoon they would still be there. This coffee had something. I am a Peet's fan.
Peet's is great. I used to have friends that had beans shipped to them.
BTW, for some reason I can't log in to post at the moment, so it may be a Saturday Funny, depending if we can get it sorted out.
Thats okay, I will take Survival Spice on a technichal error. You can pay when you bring Julie, Ms. Goofy, Guy and I to the Food show next year. We are getting together and hitting up the Ferry Plaza in the morning. Wish you were here.!!