Starbucks Without a Starbucks
We don’t have a Starbucks here in Alta but that certainly doesn’t stop them from selling their coffee. Supermarkets have been stocking the coffee for about a year now. I’m not too convinced about this being a good strategy for Starbucks. If you can buy the coffee at Rema why spend twice as much money in one of their cafés?
From Starbucks press release June 16. 2011:
Starbucks Coffee Company (NASDAQ: SBUX), and SSP, the leading operator of food and beverage brands in travel locations worldwide, today announced it will expand Starbucks presence into Norway opening the first Starbucks store at Oslo Airport early 2012.
This announcement comes on the heels of a very successful launch of Starbucks® Iced Latte ready-to-drink coffee line-up in grocery and convenience stores last January, where it has achieved 37 percent value share for ready-to-drink products in Norway in a few short months, according to a recent Nielsen survey.
“We are humbled by the overwhelmingly positive reception Starbucks® Iced Latte coffee drinks have received from our customers in Norway, and it is a natural next step for us to open our first retail store after receiving such a warm welcome,” said Nelsen.
I guess Starbucks is playing it safe for now. We will see if Norwegians will tolerate the ‘on every corner’ motto of Starbucks.
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Personally, many of us in the USA don’t like Starbucks coffee compared to better brands, such as Peat’s or other micro-house coffees. It has a tendancy toward having a burnt taste. But, yes, they are a force to be reconed with, buying up many of their competitors (i.e. Seattle’s Best, who’s originator started another micro-house coffee house (Minglement) in the original historic location (Vashon Island, Washington) shortly after the Starbuck’s buyout, so Starbuck’s essentially only got the Seattle’s Best name and the commercial roastery on the Island). Starbucks stradegy is probably that of an economic basis. Attempting to open a business to operate in another country is difficult at best. Norway (and Sweden) is one of the hardest countries for a foreign company to get started due to the registration and licensing fees (if they are approved by the officials). The future taxes are also a huge consideration, there are so many economic and licensing factors involved in operating in other countries, especially those with tight Import, Customs, taxing, etc. constraints. I remember living in Norway, if I could not obtain something in norway or Sweden, I would order it on Amazon from the USA and pay a huge amount in Customs charges for it to enter the country, especially my favorite food products.
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from L-Jay:
Yes, importing costs a lot but sometimes it is still cheaper than buying in Norway. For example, I buy my dance shoes in the US because even with the postal and handling charges and customs they are still cheaper than buying in Norway…lol. We buy a lot of books from play.com because they don’t charge postage so end up being much cheaper than amazon. But importing my favourite Aussie food produces is very expensive.
That is true L-Jay, it is sometimes cheaper to buy elsewhere. But importing food is taxed by customs so much, do you know why that is? I finally got to a point with food products that I relied on (especially spices and certain baking items), that I would have amy family buy it in the USA, package it up well and just put on the customs slip “Gift” ” valued at $35.00USD. That seemed to work better and customs overlooked it, thank gosh i had family and friends willing to ship to me, as not everyone has that.
i am sure they will. All my Norwegian friends love Starbucks, whenever we fly another Europe/Asia etc. country the first thing they look for is a Starbucks! I I hated Starbucks before moving to Norway, seriously.Always tried to support local coffee shops but i have to admit that i miss Starbucks here. Sorry to say but coffee in seven eleven or narvessen or in all gas stations etc. sucks! And even though i am not a serious coffee lover!
Yes Amy, I agree, the Norwegian coffee leaves a lot to be dsired, which surprises me, because so many Norwegians love to “take coffee,” and drink a lot of it, which many of us love to do together. Spanish coffee is amazing…and many of the vegetables in Europe come from Spain, so why not Spain’s amazing coffee? Just thinking here…if coffee is going to be imported, wouldn’t really good coffee be the better choice?
I was just in Norway and found it refreshing to not see a Starbucks anywhere. I do hope that the Norwegians will reject the coffe shop on every corner mentality. There is really nothing special or authentic about Starbucks. Amy (from Seattle)
I agree Amy, Starbucks is probably the least pallatable of all speciality coffee manufacturers. Norway woudl be greatly better off with a Peat’s, Tully’s for a speciality shop, and if they just want to import bulk to sell in the grocery stores…San Francisco Blen is excellent and inexpensive…but of course it is ultimately a supply and demand situation.