When you are in the city and looking for a coffee fix, chances are that your eyes will land on the very recognisable bright green logo of Starbucks. Today, Starbucks is on almost every street corner and in every shopping centre. It has become everyone’s go-to destination for a quick coffee, a cosy gathering with friends or even a place to sit and work. This is what Howard Schultz, chairman of Starbucks, envisioned when he started his business: a place people can gather and enjoy a hot drink, all around the world. So how did he turn Starbucks into one of the most well-known brands on the planet today?
Starbucks started as a small coffee shop chain in Seattle in 1981. Walking into one of the stores, Schultz was captivated by the smell of fresh coffee. This sparked his desire to work there. Later, during a visit to Milan, Schultz was fascinated by the Italian coffee houses he saw. They were not just places to drink coffee, but also spaces where people could gather and socialise. Inspired, he decided that he would bring this Italian coffee culture to Starbucks. It would create a sense of belonging and community for customers in an increasingly disconnected world. “We’re not in the business of filling bellies, we’re in the business of filling souls,” Schultz said in an interview with CBS News. People loved the new concept. Soon, Schultz’s team was able to open new branches all over America, and then across the globe. The first international Starbucks store opened in Japan in 1996, followed by one in Europe in 1998 and another in China in 1999.
But it was not just Starbucks’ concept that gave it its worldwide popularity. Its global success was possible because Schultz understood that, to truly win the heart of locals, Starbucks had to adapt to local cultures. With his team, he began introducing new products that used local flavours. These included matcha lattes in Japan and red bean green tea Frappuccinos in China, both of which were instantly popular. In addition, Schultz’s team redesigned Starbucks stores to look more local. They even adapted their service to respect local cultural norms. Even though servers originally called out the names of customers when their drinks were ready, Japanese branches respect that privacy is valued in Japan, and use numbers instead.
Over the years, Starbucks has grown to become a beloved part of many neighbourhoods, welcoming millions of customers worldwide each week. In a survey by Premise, 66 per cent of 250 respondents chose Starbucks over their local coffee shop. Some Starbucks stores have even become tourist destinations today. A two-storey Starbucks train in Switzerland, for example, has been listed on travel sites like Klook. For Schultz, this worldwide popularity was only possible for one reason. “We are a people-based company,” he said to the Harvard Business Review. “You couldn’t find another consumer brand that is as dependent on human behaviour as we are.”
Starbucks became popular because it truly considered the tastes and needs of people all around the world. So the next time you step into Starbucks to enjoy a cup of iced coffee, remember the tale of how one man’s vision transformed a local coffee shop into a global sensation, one cup and one neighbourhood at a time.
Sources: CNBC, Harvard Business Review, Medium, Premise, Starbucks (1, 2), Washington Post, CBS News