Starbucks Customer Relevance

Howard Schultz was Foodservice Solutions® food merchant the year back in 1991.  The unique ability of the team of the team at Starbucks to continue to grow customer relevance our Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson believes is rooted in its understanding how to merchandise it brand with contemporized way.

In our grocerant niche world where customers want branded products available in multi-channels simultaneously Starbucks is the one brand doing an outstanding job of meeting consumer’s needs. Now Starbucks customers have another way to get their coffee on the go this spring with “Starbucks ready-to-drink beverages, including the new Cocoa & Honey with Cream Starbucks Cold Brew and a Cubano Starbucks Doubleshot Espresso inspired by Cuban coffee. Beverages are available where groceries are sold and at select Starbucks stores in the U.S.”

It was more than twenty years ago when, Starbucks and PepsiCo started the North America Coffee Partnership and launched Starbucks Bottled Frappuccino chilled coffee drink. What started out as a nascent category has grown to be more than 40 ready-to-drink Starbucks beverages and more than $2 billion in retail business proof once again success does leave clues.

However relevance does not stop with Ready-2-Drink beverages as Starbucks has a new series of single-origin coffees which invites customers to discover whole-bean coffees to try at home from some of the most extraordinary places. The first offering of single-origin is Starbucks Single-Origin Sun-Dried Ethiopia Sidamo coffee, with rich flavors of black cherry and dark chocolate.

Elliot Bentzen, coffee buyer for Starbucks stated “Ethiopia is the birthplace of arabica coffee, with a coffee tradition that dates back centuries….in Ethiopia, coffee is not only a beverage to be enjoyed, but a ceremony that is cherished as an integral part of Ethiopian culture,” says. “This ceremony is a sign of friendship and respect.”

While most Ethiopian coffee is typically processed using the washed method, Starbucks began a collaboration with Ethiopian coffee farmers in 2005 to apply the natural processing method on their best beans.

The beans are meticulously tended by coffee farmers in their family gardens, with each cherry ripened and handpicked at the peak of its flavor. The coffee cherries are spread on raised beds in the hot sunshine. Each bean absorbs flavors from the fruit as it dries.

Bentzen continued “When success of this quality is achieved, it produces an extraordinary coffee with notes of chocolate, fruit and blackberry with a hint of jasmine,” Starbuck’s customer relevance extends beyond the grocery shelf, their restaurants all the way to the coffee fields.  At Starbucks customer relevance equals respect for all. That is our success clue for today.

For international corporate presentations, educational forums, or keynotes contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us  the Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  His extensive experience as a multi-unit restaurant operator, consultant, brand / product positioning expert and public speaking will leave success clues for all. Visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information