Why Americans Are losing their taste for Starbucks

17 comments

1. Well, if you mean coffee that taste like burnt ash then yes

2. Well you mean because I’d rather eat food

3. They remodeled a lot of stores to be less comfortable to discourage people from staying. This video seems to not even realize that and still uses the old 3rd space marketing from like 20 years ago.

4. Starbucks deserves a place in history for bringing artisan coffee to the masses. In a time when most people were drinking Folgers or Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks brought an elevated product to the marketplace. However, much like America Online did for the internet, coffee has grown so far beyond what Starbucks offers. I think Starbucks still has a place for consumers when it comes to iced beverages, but much of what Starbucks does can be done better by competition, often at a lower price.

   For me, when I felt Starbuck’s goose was cooked is when they started pedaling their Pike Place Blend of beans. It was supposed to be their flagship non-espresso coffee but tasted cheap and burnt with no complexity of flavor.

   Now, the one thing Starbucks brings is consistency. You know it will be a consistently mediocre coffee. While this may sound like an insult, it isn’t. There are many places in the United States, mostly red states, where people it can be pretty difficult to find a decent cup of coffee. But the Starbucks is reliable.

5. Based on the taste, Starschmucks coffee is made with either gutter water, reused coffee grounds and ground espresso sourced at the local dump, or both.

   Margins make sense though.

6. I don’t patronize Starbucks, but I’m sure they’ve cut corners and changed recipes.

7. Overpriced and nasty. just call it fucking small, medium and large. That’s the main reason I won’t go there I refused to say Venti

8. Bc 🍉

   American brands are in for a rude awakening. The kids aren’t even having sex, they are so stressed about world affairs, the job market, their future.

   The kids are the next voting and purchasing block. Brands either address the shift of attitudes or…

9. It’s too expensive.

   That’s it. None of the other shit matters, really. When you are charging upwards of 5-6 bucks for a simple latte? People are going to start to stray.

10. Bitter taste and over priced

11. Starbucks is the Wacarnolds of coffee. Too corporate and cookie cutter for the premium price.

12. Recession maybe? No? Okay then

13. Companies note that at a certain point things are “stagnating” meaning they’re at the limit of natural growth. The metric is the decline/plateau of “same, in-store sales”. So they opt for “diversification” meaning increasing the range of products. Doing so is costly. So Starbucks created dozens of new food lines available. The food is okay, but very expensive.

    The central value proposition was lost. So they remodeled the store to increase customer velocity. Stores like Popeye’s and McDonald’s have designed the flow for speed. Get people in, get the employees working, and get people out. You increase sales by increasing customer traffic thus growing your sales by getting more people in/out of the place faster.

    But Starbucks was aimed at mid-to-upper market. They wanted to sit and lounge. Wanted to talk in a nice ambiance. They wanted to go and get another cup and maybe a pastry. But now Starbucks wants you in and then out. Again, undermined the value proposition.

    So, they slashed cost. They cut many of the employee perks (stock options, higher relative pay, etc.) and cut back on product costs. So, your coffee that’s $3.00 at Starbucks (for their grande) (which is like $2.39 at Dunkin) is now comparable to a cup of coffee at McDonald’s or Dunkin. And since they’ve focused on quality, the gap has narrowed.

    A full breakfast at Starbucks will cost you a lot more than Dunkin, but is the quality sufficient to justify the added price? The delta has narrowed too much.

    No.

    Hence the problem.

14. Personally, indies uber alles. Why would I ever go to big chains when mom&pops and small locals do it better for less? And I can vote with my $?
    No bux, no Buc-ees, ever…

15. I’m guessing it’s twofold.

    1. A high number of their customers probably used to pickup Starbucks to (and from) work. If you WFH, it seems silly to make that drive, especially if it isn’t close to home.

    2. The cost. As a lot of the Tik Tokkers mentioned in that video, the psychological effect of a coffee drink nearing $10 is going to turn off a lot of folks.

16. It’s boycotted

17. I still enjoy Starbucks when I don’t have time to make my own at home – but I don’t get the regular coffee, usually a latte or flat white. Espresso of some sort