Starbucks Tests $2.50 Premium Clover Coffee to Boost Sales
Posted by TheShot on 14 Feb 2008 | Tagged as: Beans, Consumer Trends, Machine, Quality Issues, Starbucks
“Mystery” solved. As one of our readers commented on a previous post, Starbucks recently purchased two $11,000 Clover brewers for who knows what unholy purposes. However, today Bloomberg reported that Starbucks is testing them in at least one of their Seattle retail stores: Bloomberg.com: Exclusive – Starbucks Tests $2.50 Premium Coffee to Boost Sales.
Between this and recent news of their new “dollar days” promotion, you really do have to wonder if their recent corporate shake-up included replacing their executive VP of corporate strategy with a Magic 8-ball. But whereas the $1 bottomless cup of coffee strategy seems aligned with Starbucks’ continued downmarket spiral, the $2.50 Clover-brewed coffee experiment is quite an anomaly.
Unclear on the Concept: Starbucks Beans…in a Clover?!
There’s been a lot of media coverage and squawk over coffee brewing technology these days. But a big reason why we’re even talking about brewing technology is because the coffee itself is making it relevant. We can use siphon bars and Clovers and notice the difference in our cups because of vast improvements in bean sourcing (Cup of Excellence coffees, etc.) and a more rigorous commitment to quality roasting and to keeping the inventory of the roasted beans as fresh as possible. Without the advancements made in the bean, the roast, and its freshness, the whole exercise of these high-end brewing machines is rather pointless.
Thus it’s not clear that Starbucks even comprehends any of this. Starbucks still sources their beans from mammoth-sized suppliers (to ensure consistency and an appropriate volume to supply their over 15,000 cafés) and uses roasts that they do not dare date stamp. Even Starbucks’ “Black Apron Exclusives” beans aren’t held to the standards that most Clover-using cafés have. This makes Starbucks’ use of the Clover a bit like playing AM talk radio through a $30,000 sound system. What’s the point?
After a decade of relentless focus on growth at all costs, Starbucks is clearly experimenting with quality and other long-ignored factors in the hopes of finding something that sticks with consumers — to revive their flagging brand. We still haven’t ruled out the possibility of Starbucks re-launching some of their cafés as “Starbucks Select” (think “Target Greatland”, etc.) to allow them to focus more on quality at some of their cafés and help buoy the impression of quality at the rest.
4 Comments »
Sounds like a transparent effort by Starbucks to get some buzz going with coffee elites who likely don’t even frequent the ‘walmart of coffee’
It turns out Starbucks isn’t just using their usual beans on the Clovers. From Home-Barista: http://www.home-barista.com/forums/clover-in-starbucks-t6134.html :
“Was in Boston Beacon Hill this morning and got inside SB in Charles St for a Cappa. After getting the Cappa (burnt, too much milk…) I noticed something out of place
It took me few second to realize I was watching a real Clover – it is like going to Techno club and the DJ start playing Miles Davis
I asked to try and first got their Kenya which was very drinkable, but on the boring side. Then asked if they got any freshly roasted coffee (the Kenya had no roast date ) and was surprise to learn that they do. This time I got aged Sumatra which was roasted on Jan-16 (of this year !)
Now I’m not a big coffee fan and never got to liking Sumatra coffees, but this was not bad at all. The coffee was nothing like the Clover made coffee I was served in Grumpy nor was it anything near the sweet taste of the Terroir N. Italian espressos I was lucky to get last night, but for SB this is a huge step forward.
I start talking with the PBTC and learned the SB is piloting a fresh-coffee + Clover program, there are two other shops in Boston getting the Clover ( Harvard SQ, and Financial District ). The coffee they use for this was coming in a special 10oz packs all carrying a big sticker of pilot plan ( and a roast date)
When I asked to pay I was told that today is the first Clover day and the coffee is for free. Bottom line – this was the best value for the money I ever got at SB”
-gabi
Note, I usually think that theshot is one of the best resources online when it comes to coffee news. However, when hating on Starbucks, it is best to have one’s facts straight.
Loved the “(of this year!)” comment.
Well, good for *$ to recognize that their baseline coffee just isn’t suited for the Clover. Maybe there are a few employees left who still care and know what they are doing (as much as they must be in the minority there these days). Still, it creates a sore-thumb sourcing and supply chain issue for them. (“Where again is that machine that adds the date stamps, Clarence?”) And even a roast date of 1/16/08 makes the coffee weeks old by the 2/8/08 posting.
But a “cappa”?! Ouch – calling it a “cap” sounds lame enough. Last time I was in England, I had to resist the urge to slap any tea drinker who referred to it as a “cuppa”. (Americans have even less of an excuse for speaking in nursery rhymes.)
Ciao again,
I get the feeling that *$ is going through the corporate version of a mid-life crisis. The Clover experiment looks like flinging noodles against the wall to see what sticks. Sadly, it’s probably too late now for them to make any radical changes. I’ve heard they’re closing their shops soon for just a few hours of barista training. These are sure to be small tweaks at best.
I remember a short cappuccino a co-worker bought me the other day (I don’t refuse gifts, even from *$). While it wasn’t quite as ridiculous as their super-sized milkshakes, it was still insipid, as if dispensed from a vending machine. Blue Bottle & its clients have nothing to fear.
Starbucks will go the way of all empires, and their story will serve as a lesson, or so I like to think.
Ciao,
Wayne