The giant in coffee industry is just one name and that is Starbucks. Today, our passion for coffee is mainly designed by them as they have made great impacts in our lives and coffee drinking. Their impact is felt from how we drink our coffee to what flavors to drink, the type of coffee we choose. Coffee drinking in our lives today is a pleasure that has been tanned to flashing flames by the Starbucks Company
Back In the Days
In 1971 when this coffee giant started it was just three friends with a passion for the gourmet coffee. Jerry Baldwin, Gordon Bowler and Zeu Siegl made up the committee of friends. They began in a small shop where they sold freshly brewed, roasted and gourmet coffee beans and other washing accessories.
Zeu Siegi in 1980 wanted to explore other opportunities elsewhere. All this time Starbucks was a major rouser in Washington with about six stores to their names. In 1981 the company managed to get the attention of a plastic sales man Howard Schulz, who noticed that they bought a large supply of plastic coffee thermos from Hammer Plast. In 1982 Starbucks made the biggest history when they employed Howard Schulz as the new marketing developer. Not long after this appointment Schulz got sent abroad to check the international market and house wares shown in Milan, Italy 1983. While there, he noticed people were gathered in compact shops generating conversation while sipping their coffee. As he watched this, an idea was forming in his mind.
The idea he had was that he cloud create an atmosphere of serene coffee drinking as was done in Italy. This idea was to replace Starbucks Company on the annals of great companies for generations to come. When Schulz got back to America and shared the idea with Baldwin this idea didn’t go well with Baldwin who felt they were deviating from their major goal of providing whole coffee beans and going into restaurants. Through, he did allow him to try espresso bar which was placed on the corner of Starbucks Company locale. The espresso bar was a major success and Schultz left to open his own business called Il Giornale, it was a coffee house that was named after Italy’s larger newspaper known as “the daily”.
By 1987 Starbucks went public and was up for sale, Schultz was able to raise $3.8 million from convincing investors of his idea which was 125 outlets in the next five years. He made a lopped of changes when he become head. This changes include changing the bare-chested logos of Starbucks to a more socially acceptance one and converting the six existing coffee roasting snaps into coffee houses he also the name of his own “Il Giornale ” to Starbucks putting all business under one umbrella.
The various changes made him reach his goal and also superseded of 125 stores in 5 years, because as at 1992 there were 165 coffees shops that were running perfectly.
Today
There are more than 800 stores in 30 different countries scattered around the world. This giant café house has annual revenues that exceed $7.5 billion. Truly this is amazing.