Friday, November 30, 2007

In Italy: Caffè and Coffee Adored. Starbucks NOT Attractive -Why?

The ANNOTICO Report

 

Italians adore their coffee and caffes, or bars as they're often called, and it's impossible to imagine any street, piazza, shopping centre, train station, office building, even prison, without them. But not just any coffee in any bar will do. The coffee itself must be of the highest quality -- strong but not overly bitter -- and cut with the proper amount of steamed milk that leaves only a thin layer of froth on the top.

 

It absolutely must be served in little white china cups on little white saucers. It must be made and served quickly and cost little (in Rome, an espresso costs 70 or 80 euro cents, a little more than a C-buck). The bar itself should be filled with locals, an efficient and smiling barista, and not necessarily be equipped with seats and tables. Italians like to crowd the marble counter, say their pleasantries and jump into the conversation about the latest political and soccer disasters.
 
In other words, the Italian coffee experience is everything Starbucks is not.  Italians who travel not only consider a Starbucks coffee "muddy water", and the paper cups vs  "white china cups on little white saucers" are declasse. And most important there is not the "socializing" experience.

 

The irony is that Starbucks was inspired by the Italian coffee experience. In the mid-1980s, company founder Howard Schultz visited Milan and was impressed by the product and the culture around it. He adapted the concept for American tastes and it worked phenomenally well.

Starbucks has some 14,000 outlets in 43 countries, and for several years has been rumored to consider entering Italy..

No Starbucks to be Found

GlobeandMailCanada 

Eric Reguly

November 29, 2007

The moment I realized Starbucks would not dare invade Italy came early last summer, shortly after I arrived from Canada, when I covered a trial at Rome's infamous Rebibbia prison. The place is vast, bleak and intimidating. There's nothing there besides cell blocks and a courtroom lined with cages where the incarcerated await trial. Well almost nothing. To my suprise, I discovered a fairly decent caffee just outside the courtroom. It was filled with jurors and prison guards, all sipping coffee and merrilly nattering away. Except for the dim lighting and lack of windows, it could have been my neighbourhood joint.
 
Italians adore their coffee and caffes, or bars as they're often called, and it's impossible to imagine any street, piazza, shopping centre, train station, office building, even prison, without them. But not just any coffee in any bar will do. The coffee itself must be of the highest quality -- strong but not overly bitter -- and cut with t he proper amount of steamed milk that leaves only a thin layer of froth on the top. It absolutely must be served in little white china cups on little white saucers. It must be made and served quickly and cost little (in Rome, an espresso costs 70 or 80 euro cents, a little more than a C-buck). The bar itself should be filled with locals, an efficient and smiling barista, and not necessarily be equipped with seats and tables. Italians like to crowd the marble counter, say their pleasantries and jump into the conversation about the latest political and soccer disasters.
 
In other words, the Italian coffee experience is everything Starbucks is not. Italians who travel consider a Starbucks coffee muddy water. They don't like to chug half a litre of coffee out of big paper cups. Paper cups are inelegant and are needed only if the coffee is to be removed from the premises. No Italian could imagine taking a coffee outside the bar. A Starbucks shop, oddly, is not filled with the aroma of coffee (I'd like to know if that's intentional). Starbucks is expensive and the shops double as lounges that you in effect rent. You can pay $4 for a coffee and linger for two hours reading a book or pounding the laptop. Italians tend not to linger in coffee bars. Of course, Starbucks could clone a proper Italian coffee bar in Italy. But then it wouldn't be a Starbucks.
 
I keep hearing rumours that Starbucks, which has some 14,000 outlets in 43 countries, will conquer Italy next. It does not have a single shop in this country; Britain and France succumbed a long time ago. A few years ago, a Starbuck International exec said Italy was on the to-do list. But nothing happened. Starbucks no doubt would love to have success stories in Italy. Imagine the publicity: If Starbucks is good enough for the coffee-snob Italians, it's good enough for the world. But imagine if Starbucks opened Italian shops and they failed, as they probably would. Every story about the company's global expansion would mention the flop.
 
The irony is that Starbucks was inspired by the Italian coffee experience. In the mid-1980s, company founder Howard Schultz visited Milan and was impressed by the product and the culture around it. He adapted the concept for American tastes and it worked phenomenally well. Or at least it did until now. In the last year, Starbucks' shares have lost more than one-third of their value. The company is still growing but not as fast as used to. The Italians don't care. To them, coffee isn't about making money. It's about being part of the neighbourhood, a little bit of caffeine-fuelled theatre before heading to work.   

 

 

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