- ABC Sevilla -
Recently, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz inadvertently caused a sensation when a breast-beating internal memo he wrote was leaked to the press. “Over the past 10 years, in order to achieve the growth, development and scale necessary to go from less than 1,000 stores to 13,000 . . . we have had to make a series of decisions that, in retrospect, have led to the watering down of the Starbucks experience, and what some might call the commoditization of our brand,” Schultz wrote.
Have you noticed something odd about your neighbourhood Starbucks? Yes, people are still queuing up to order their lattes and macchiatos, and hanging out in chatty groups just like it was a real café in Europe. Except there's something missing.
You know that sound, the one the barista makes when he or she bangs the side of the metal strainer handle to empty the grounds? Well, you never hear it. You might hear John Mayer or Norah Jones, or people clicking away on their laptops, but never that sound. And what's even weirder, is that it's a café, but you can't smell the coffee.
Last week, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz inadvertently caused a sensation when a breast-beating internal memo he wrote was leaked to the press. “Over the past 10 years, in order to achieve the growth, development and scale necessary to go from less than 1,000 stores to 13,000 . . . we have had to make a series of decisions that, in retrospect, have led to the watering down of the Starbucks experience, and what some might call the commoditization of our brand,” Schultz wrote.
Primary among these misguided moves, according to Schultz, was the publicly traded company's decision to switch from traditional coffee-making machines to idiot-proof button ones.
“When we went to automatic espresso machines we solved a major problem in terms of speed and efficiency. At the same time we overlooked the fact that we would remove much of the romance and theatre that was in play.”
“Uh, yea-ah,” says Colin Newell, the editor of 13-year-old Victoria-based website coffeegeek.com, in the “hel-lo” singsong of one annoyed by the obvious.
“It basically comes down to the difference between North America and Europe,” Newell says. “In Europe, being a barista is a life and an art. The average age of a trained barista is 48 or 49. It's a respected career choice. In North America, it's just a temporary job for 20-year-olds. What the super-automatic machines do is completely take the experience out of human hands so there's consistent results.”
Well, ye-eah, but the first time I ever saw a button espresso machine was in the breakfast room of a European-owned hotel in Cuba (that's why we took our morning coffee in the bar, where you could still get someone to make you a real cafe cubano). According to the Tea and Coffee Trade Journal, the Swiss were the first to manufacture semi-automatic espresso machines, which have proved so popular there are now at least 50 European varieties on the market, making instant espresso “pods” into a “well over a billion-dollar annual business” and turning Europeans into pod people along the way.
Over lunch this week held by the exclusive international hotel association Relais & Châteaux, its new chief, Jaume Tàpies, revealed that all Relais-designated hotels have recently switched to the Nespresso coffee system.
“You see, there are so many variables, from the temperature of the milk to the precise grind of the beans, to the pressure of the machine to the skill of the operator that the only way to ensure quality is with these machines,” explained Tàpies (who had just told me that to qualify for membership into the Relais, an establishment had to be small and family-owned, offering the highest tier of service as well as brimming with character).
Those who think the choice of coffee maker is a mere question of utility, however, should think again. Button coffee has so revolutionized Europe, the Tea and Coffee Trade Journal claims that in Italy, where it was once common for employees to nip out for a quick bar espresso several times in a workday, “with the pod appearing in more and more offices, the effect on Italy's bar/café coffee business has been dramatic, some reporting a decline of almost 25 per cent in bar/café espresso sales.”
Of course the same phenomenon is making its way onto the kitchen counters of stylish North American households, which now frequently boast a sleek Tassimo (made by Kraft; its pre-packed specialty coffee pods on offer at Loblaws), Senseo or the Relais choice, the Nespresso. Last week, Nestlé, the world's largest food company, which manufactures the Nespresso, reported a rise to more than $7-billion in 2006 net profits, crediting its results to its fastest-growing business, the button espresso unit.
I have to admit that the Nespresso is brilliant. We bought my espresso-addict father one for Christmas and the coffee it makes (particularly the Ristretto and Volluto grinds) is rich and syrupy and the crema abundant (Newell disagrees, but then again, he is a self-described coffee geek). Of course it's also magnificently wasteful — each little one-serving metallic pod is trucked straight to your door, warming the globe along the way, and then tossed in the trash. But the big surprise for those of us who assumed it was impossible to make a decent espresso at home is that it's almost as good as those hand-pulled shots one gets in Italy — now, apparently a cultural tradition so ripped off by corporate behemoths, it's as endangered as any spotted owl.
Clearly Schultz and his ilk had better wake up and smell the coffee — particularly now that he finds himself in the company of McDonald's, which has just introduced its own premium brand.