Hmmm, what will they think of next?

I was catching up with a friend's blog today when I noticed this startling piece of news:

Starbucks closes to learn how to make coffee

Thanks Benn for the heads up, because the news of Starbucks' innovative "learn how to make coffee because you work in a coffee shop" programme really rocked my world.

I live in Wellington, so the fact is I am incredibly spoilt when it comes to coffee. On one street we have Astoria, Fuel, Mojo, Supreme and Caffe L'Affare, and yes, we have a Starbucks or four. But that is the crux of the issue many people have with the ubiquitous coffee brand - it is freaking everywhere!

Some will decry and denigrate Starbucks simply due to the number of stores you find in any reasonably sized city. while I sympathise with that attitude I don't think it is their fugly aesthetics and anti-globalisation sentiment inspired by their 'everywhereness' (new word) that are the worst result of this policy.

I think if we dig deeper and draw a comparison between cafe culture and coffee shop culture we will find the real reason behind Starbucks' slump.

• Where cafes are a labour of love, coffee shops are there to make a buck.
• In cafes it is the coffee, its' aroma, texture, colour and taste, that is the focus, in a coffee shop much of this is secondary to speed of delivery and the recipe - nevermind the effects of humidity, and the quality of the milk on the final product.
• In cafes, good ones, being a barista is a profession, an art, a thing to take seriously and be joyful about, in a coffee shop it is about performing a function, delivering a service.

There is more that can be drawn out of this comparison but I am going to stop there and take a deep breath, because I don't think that Starbucks has to be a coffee shop, it doesn't have to remain at the transaction-based end of the experience scale.

Some simple things Starbucks could do to drive their stores towards the value-add end of the experience scale:

• Focus on the local area, and fit out your stores with something that represents that, while retaining the Starbucks name as a familiar touchpoint. A Starbucks in Queens, New York should not look like a Starbucks in LA, let alone one on the other side of the world.
• Give your people better training - yeah, closing the shops Nationwide for three hours is good but it is symptomatic of crap training in the first place. Include advanced techniques in your training.
  
• Instill a love of coffee by giving staff the opportunity to explore other cafes and return with their findings about what makes them special. Actually listen to them.
  
• Start offering traditional coffee, Long Blacks, Short Blacks, Machiatto, Flat Whites, Lattes. The point here is to show your customers how different coffee can be when treated with a variety of techniques.
  
• No mugs - use coffee cups. Don't disrespect the coffee by dumping it in a mug. You may want to keep the mugs around for the diehards, but using traditional cups will help you create stronger, better crafted coffee.

I have very little confidence that someone at Starbucks will see this and plot a new course for Starbucks based on it, and that isn't the point anyway - all I wanted to do was show that even the most ubiquitous of products can have a tradition or history, a culture, that can be honoured and utilised to create change and profit.

Now if only someone would sell People's Coffee on Lambton Quay.

Benn's Post @ getbusyliving: For my American friends