Coffee Wars 2006
Posted by TheShot on 16 Mar 2006 | Tagged as: Consumer Trends, Starbucks
Today’s Los Angeles Times reports on the corporate expansion plans of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf: Coffee Chains in Grand Battle to Take No. 2 Spot - Los Angeles Times.
Coffee Bean’s angle? Just looking at the ratio of coffeehouses to residents, Seattle is more than ten times as saturated as California. Thus this L.A.-based chain sees California as a growth market with a lot of huge potential remaining. That and they see their lighter roasting styles as a differentiator from the likes of Peet’s Coffee & Tea or Starbucks.
And as Americans are guzzling more premium coffee than ever, some marketing experts are characterizing the coming coffee wars as a repeat of the cola wars from prior decades: USATODAY.com - McDonald’s debut of premium coffee stirs up rivals. Examples cited include yesterday’s first-ever National Coffee Break, where Starbucks reportedly served some 500,000 free coffees at over 7,500 U.S. locations between 10am-12pm.
Of course, the most telling thing I saw yesterday morning were the number of people in line with me at the Peet’s Coffee on 2nd & Mission Sts. who were holding their free newspapers and Starbucks coupons in hand. While it’s hard for anybody to pass up a good freebie, it seems that you still can’t get people to stop paying for better coffee.
2 Comments »
on 31 Jul 2006 at 5:35 pm PT 1.TheShot.coffeeratings.com » The smoke, mirrors, and black magic of coffee marketing said …
[...] The Coffee Wars are getting more interesting all the time. [...]
on 07 Sep 2006 at 2:02 pm PT 2.TheShot.coffeeratings.com » Big Fight Brews For Average Joe said …
[...] Today’s Washington Post published an article on how Dunkin’ Donuts plans for coffee imperialism are now colliding with those of Starbucks: Big Fight Brews For Average Joe. With new Dunkin’ Donuts outlets opening next door to Starbucks, the Coffee Wars are getting more interesting all the time. [...]