Maria Bartiromo interviewed Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz about the “new” Starbucks and asked him the one question he probably didn’t want to hear:
Earlier you said to me, the media has made such a huge deal about all of Starbucks’ competition. So tell us straight out what the story is here. Have you been hurt by the premium coffee sold at McDonald’s (MCD) or by Dunkin’ Donuts getting more aggressive?
“First off, I don’t think there’s premium coffee being sold at those fast-food places…”
“Second, this is not about the competition. Our customers are not buying a hamburger and fries and then going to get espresso. That’s not the case. What is the case is that there’s a downturn in the economy. As a result, people are coming in less often than they did a year ago. But we control our own destiny. And what we strongly believe is if we take care of our customers, produce the kind of product that is distinctive, and exceed their expectations, we’re going to be in great shape. But we’re going to couple that with relentless innovation that you’ll begin to see in the marketplace in the months ahead.
Uh-oh! That’s not what Consumer Reports says! From Consumer Reports’ fast food coffee taste test:
McDonald’s, $1.35, was decent and moderately strong. Although it lacked the subtle top notes needed to make it rise and shine, it had no flaws.
Burger King, $1.40, looked like coffee but tasted more like hot water. It was a little sour, with an unusual hint of chocolate.
Dunkin’ Donuts, $1.65, was weak, watery, and pricier than Starbucks. It was inoffensive, but it had no oomph. (If you brew with Dunkin’ beans at home, you can make it stronger.)
Starbucks, $1.55, was strong, but burnt and bitter enough to make your eyes water instead of open.
CR’s take. Try McDonald’s, which was cheapest and best, or make your own coffee–just call it something special. The other three were all only OK, but for different reasons.
We consider Starbucks to be a fast food place. Don’t you? Drive-thrus? Check. Mini-stores inside big box stores? Check. Menu items with 700+ calories? Check.
Howard Schultz on Reinventing Starbucks [BusinessWeek via Starbucks Gossip]
Starbucks wars [Consumer Reports]
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Anyone tried Sonic’s new prem. roast coffee, its pretty good.
Consumer reports did a simialr story a uear or 2 ago and back then they found that DD scored the highest. Though I believe the prior test was on the quality of the beans.
I’m a DD snob both ways, I’ll buy on average 2 cups a day at a store and I go thru 2 pounds a week brewing at home. It all comes down to CONSISTENCY for me.
Nope, they changed the coffee. They’re using a different company.
@Me: I agree. I sometimes can’t believe how much time people on this blog spend talking about how much they hate Starbucks.
It’s like sitting around debating the merits of Burgerking over McDonalds over Burgerville over Carl’s Junior. It’s subjective. And who cares?
@louveciennes: Not to start an argument, but I did inventory orders and tracking at my store for 4 years, and it came from the same vendor, same price, same packaging, same smell (you get used to it after that long and can tell when something is different)
I brew a damn good cup of coffee in my 40 year old Farberware perk using all purpose grind Chock-full-o-nuts original blend that I buy at the supermarket. I could never figure out what the hoopla over these other coffees was about (other than profit, that is).
@samurailynn:
Word, their chai tastes like ass. Then again, I think Tazo is just Lipton with fancier packaging.
I’m not talking about when they changed the packaging. I’m talking about before that, when they started using a different vendor. It was some years ago. And I used to work at one, too.
hahahaha lol at all of you. mcdonalds using seattles best. three guesses as to who owns seattles best?
starbucks.
@unohoo: You forgot to tell the rest of us to get off your lawn.
@alfundo: DD snob, eh? I know what that’s like. I’m a car snob. I’ve been driving my Yugo for as long as I can remember.
Oh–and every Walgreens I passed today while driving around had a sign advertising that they now have coffee for sale, 99¢. Maybe coffee will be the next bubble.
I always loved DD hot coffee,
and Md’s iced coffee isn’t too bad, it actually has liquid, SB usually has a little liquid and alot of AIR
Meh, I’ll stick with my cheapo $1.49 jumbo-ultra sized cup of coffee from the Kwik Shop. They make a fresh batch every hour and it tastes decent, compared to the alternatives. It’s either that or freshly roasted/ground coffee in my coffeemaker, which is of course even cheaper.
I think the CR report is quite biased, because that BK coffee might taste like mud in one location, and burnt the next, and then normal in the next, and so on with others.
I buy my coffee from a local convenience store. They carry Community brand coffee and the store offers 8 different coffee varieties changed every 30 min, they even offer 3 flavor torani syrups, international delight flavored creamers, and fresh chilled half & half. All for $.79 cents for a 34 oz refill in my bubba mug. The premium designer coffee decade should be over already, especially with the recession.
dear starbucks CEO.
i want coffee. i don’t care where i get it — but i have two demands:
1. that it be reasonably priced. it’s, uh, coffee. not a whole meal.
2. that it be good, or at least decent.
upon ordering a plain iced coffee at your fine company, i have discovered that, well, your coffee actually kinda sucks. and that’s really all you do, right? coffee. it’s all coffee — you think you could get it right? nope.
guess what? mcdonalds has better coffee than you. and dunkin donuts? much better. that’s why you’re losing business — premium coffee or not, people are getting bored of premium prices on designer drinks that cover up burnt beans with added flavors.
and if i want a real coffee house experience, and “premium” coffee, i’m certainly not going to another big fast food corporation such as yourself. i’m going to place that doesn’t just sell the veneer of community, and has real music (not just cds for sale), and… can actually make a coffee.
I’m sorry, but McDonald’s, Burger King and Dunkin’ Donuts are NOT on par with the quality and strength of coffee offered at Starbucks. Personally, I prefer a great local roasting company, far better than Starbucks, but the Starbucks CEO IS right: Starbucks coffee IS premium and people that know what good coffee is would know that the fast food joints don’t cut muster. Now, I have had a few cups of joe at McDonald’s when I was too far from a Starbucks or my local roaster, and it is certainly better than Burger King or Dunkin Donuts. Unfortunately I feel many still do not realize that a cup of coffee with 9 hazelnut creamers, 7 packets of sugar and chocolate syrup mixed in is not a true cup and they’re missing out on the flavor and aroma of the mix of beans, amount of roast time etc. I feel the Starbucks CEO spoke very accurately and undoubtedly will lead Starbucks into an even brighter future!
Lately I’ve been feeling slightly ashamed for loving Burger King’s Coffee. I have actually gone out of my way to get it on occasion.
I enjoy the good stuff too (you can count me among the Peet’s fans here), but I’ll drink anything if it’s handy — even the sharp, nasty sludge that’s been festering on the burner all day.
There, I’ve commented away my relevancy to the conversation.
It’s a weird phenomenon. More often than not, you find that in a place that serves “specialty” items (like Starbucks does with chais and lattes and double-whip half-caf fat free mochachinos or whatever), their “normal” variety of those same items is of very poor quality. I’ve had drinks at Starbucks and overpriced though they are, their specialty drinks are good. Not the best ever, but good.
I’d never order a regular cup of coffee there, though. Most convenience stores sell coffee for .99 a cup and it’s always been just as good if not better than the two cups of coffee I had at Starbucks.
Starbucks says McD’s isn’t premium because they use SEATTLE’S BEST COFFEE. starbuck’s Competitor!
Bitter Coffee? What’s are they talking about? I drink Peets french Roast. Beans as black as coal and oily. The world’s best coffee (bitter and strong.)
@Snarkysnake:
having worked there, i can tell you that the coffee and service was better than people were used to. but starbucks got cocky, focused on branding and speed, and lost the passion for coffee.
@ltlbbynthn:
seattle’s best is owned by starbucks.
I used to get Starbucks White Chocolate Mocha every day. Recently it seems as if my last 5 or 6 cups (or the last 30 bucks of my money) have been bitter and then sweet like syrup on the bottom. I asked ‘em what the deal was with that and they were like; oh yeah, you have to request your latte be stirred now because we stopped stirring them to cut down on prep time and since the WCM is already a very dense drink, we don’t stir them. WTF?! I haven’t been back since.
boy do I miss being in college. Green Mountain coffee brew was pretty delish!
First let me say that the article…I don’t know what’s wrong with
their taste buds, but they’re clearly off. For the record, I don’t
care for uber-strong, bitter coffees…I like a nice, smooth, velvety
texture to my coffee. Normally I make my own at home with a Flavia
brewer (Breakfast Blend FTW), but maybe once a month I will splurge.
I’m in Southern California and…I’ve had coffee from just about every
possible place except Coffee Bean. Based on drinking the coffee black
with cream (I don’t put sugar in my coffee):
Starbucks: Tastes like burnt water. I have no idea how it can be this
bad when the Frappuccino isn’t nearly as distasteful.
McDonalds: The old coffee was great. It had a nice, smooth texture
that had a very light nutty kick to it when you added cream. The
premium is absolutely disgusting – it’s not like burnt water like
Starbucks, but the bean strength is way too high. I’d equate it to
Sumatra – for anyone that knows their coffee. I don’t like a burned
taste in any case.
Burger King: It’s been a long time since I drank their coffee and with
good reason – it has little taste. Doesn’t taste like burnt water,
but it’s clear that they have no concept of “fresh brewed” or “freshly
ground”.
Jack in the Box: again, long time since I drank their coffee, but it
wasn’t too bad. Not too burnt, but it just had an “off” taste to it
that I didn’t care for. It’s like they add something to it or
something…can’t describe it.
Carls Jr.: long time again…but their coffee also doesn’t taste right.
Dunkin Donuts: I tried their coffee recently and I wasn’t too
impressed. I mean it wasn’t terrible but not this legendary coffee
everyone else was making it out to be. It was basic. Better than
Starbucks, for sure.
The thing with coffee is, you can tell if it’s freshly ground or if
it’s been sitting or was packaged. There’s a distinction in the
flavor that you can catch if you have the sensitivity for taste.