What’s Gone Wrong at Starbucks?

[@piesareround]

I think people realized that drinking a 1000 calorie drink, which costs $9, isn't the greatest idea.

[@mike4402]

Yes. Raising prices just put them in competition with better options. Same thing is happening with fast food and restaurants.

[@weird_law]

I think you overestimate people. They probably just don't have the $9 anymore 🙂

[@amr5838]

It is also obviously the boycotting all over the world to this shit brand

[@electron6825]

​@@weird_lawthe real answer. People will happily consume trash until it kills them

[@nate8932]

if that were the case, dunkin donuts wouldnt be succesful lol

[@doujinflip]

The genius of Schultz wasn't in the coffee, but in turning the coffeeshop into basically a daytime bar where people can meet up over pretty good fresh brewed coffee. Much like how we pay way more for freshly poured drinks at a club when we could have it ourselves at home for a fraction of the cost. Deviating from the Schultz's coffee bar concept is what's causing Starbucks to again peak and begin another cycle of greed-driven decline.

[@proy3]

Someone watched Fat Electrician

[@ShantyIrishman]

Yep, most Starbucks don’t even have bathrooms anymore.

[@JupiterxBlues]

Yup, and I have seen many starbucks locations remove all their tables and seats to prevent anyone from staying.

[@tomwaitsmencse]

Rampant public drug use destroys public spaces.

[@paul6925]

Exactly! Now it's an assembly line. I feel bad for the baristas in the really busy stores

[@nick90000]

Starbucks doesn't sell coffee, it sells sugar, premium priced sugar drinks. I think many people took their business to actual coffee places, where you can choose things like coffee beans instead of which sugary toppings you want on the overburned Starbucks liquid.

[@BlueBD]

I pretty much to everything at home. Started with a local fresh roaster. slowly grew into more, better milks, homemade syrups, Got my first frother... now i have my own grinder. I pretty much do it all now, and get months worth of beans(10 pounds) for like 100 bucks. Sounds like a lot but depending on your needs 1 pound is roughly 30 cups worth. thats a month. so if I use a pound a month thats 10 months of coffee. Course i drink doubles so its about half that, still worth the price.

[@FuhrerNCheifTrump]

Neoliberal economics doesn’t work. That is literally what all PhD nerds have been saying for over 100 years. But you people dont listen.

[@TheKyleLazarus]

They sell T2 Diabetes.

[@TheZarr]

This 100%! Over the last few years local coffee shops have started popping up and they’re thriving. I’ve even fallen down the rabbit hole of pour over coffee at home.

[@choreomaniac]

Starbucks is the single largest contributor to diabetes in the past 50 years. Sure, Coke sells sugary beverages but so does Starbucks and they disguise it. They single handedly popularized syrupy sweet coffee drinks as a daily morning routine. We all know not to have a can of Coca Cola for breakfast, but are fine with a Venti Caramel Macchiato. Their sugar content is roughly the same.

[@lewismelrose4334]

Same as mcdonalds - Ongoing boycott - Unjustified Price Hikes - Oversaturated Market

[@lasciviouspaine]

underpaid, overworked and unappreciated staff

[@MrAce832]

It's been like this for years. I guess people are just waking up.

[@HiddenAgendas]

@@lasciviouspaine Starbucks is paying $20+ /hr in California.

[@smada36]

Boomers said that if we stop drinking we could buy a house.

[@SteinGauslaaStrindhaug]

🤣

[@Da1its0Uf8oma]

LOL!! True. and Avacado Toast, Cancelling disney subscription.

[@evanrhildreth]

Which is hypocritical because Boomers spent far more on booze when they were young.

[@MBarberfan4life]

Boomers love the just-world fallacy.

[@josephjohnson1057]

A coffee a day adds up to thousands of dollars a year. Maybe these sensitive young folks should listen instead of cancelling dissenters...

[@Hrafnskald]

Pre-pandemic, one of the biggest selling points for Starbucks within the US was as a meeting place with AC and Wifi where people could spend time without being shoved out the door. Losing that is a serious issue for the chain, just like if all the pubs in the UK became takeout-only. Without the social meetingplace side, there's little reason to go to Starbucks.

[@philipbranco9568]

Absolutely, people forget because the States have strict alcohol policies, bars are not as common so coffee shops are the main meeting places. It's the same in China, Starbucks is a 21st century teahouse. The problem is making the environment lousy puts people off.

[@elliotoliver8679]

People buy 1 coffee and spend 3 hours in store on laptop, great business model

[@juicy2fresh]

@@elliotoliver8679 I just spent 3 hours in a coffee shop this weekend and bought food and 2 drinks. I also had friends who bought a similar amount food and drinks.

[@Sacto1654]

Correct, Starbucks became essentially a _third place_ for people to meet, but the pandemic killed (very literally!) that idea and now people are finding way cheaper alternatives.

[@vladsnape6408]

Short answer: over-priced, crap coffee.

[@Dayvit78]

That's always been true. So why now are they doing poorly?

[@joebarrett4353]

@@Dayvit78 Because there is more quality competition available

[@truelies5431]

Same McD faith... overpriced junk food.. where you could've gotten better deals from other restaurants

[@obelic71]

@@Dayvit78 the hipster effect is gone.

[@jhonklan3794]

Literally the only decent tasting coffee.

[@thabsor]

as a barista currently working at a starbucks, our coffee sucks

[@Viv8ldi]

liar

[@ariver7491]

It's good

[@erinbeaud4556]

As a former sbux worker I’m with you. The brewed coffee is burnt and the espresso is depresso. If you don’t mask the nastiness with whatever flavour of the month they have it’s painfully obvious that it’s a scam. Ironic that their training includes how to identify and make good coffee and then forces you serve dog water. Every local cafe I’ve worked at since has superior coffee.

[@funniest_shit_ever]

@@erinbeaud4556 your store probably had nasty cleaning habits or poor maintenance/calibration.

[@alexandrealvarez8690]

Did people finally understand that paying >10$ for caffeine is stupid ?

[@kinghenryxl1747]

ITS THE BOYCOTTS, BECAUSE OF ITS SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL, STUPID

[@rkx0]

Gotta love people who pay 10x the price just for their name to be misspelled.

[@JayMannStuff]

Well, people buy energy drinks when caffeine pills exist, which cost less than a tenth of the price for the same amount of caffeine. And people buy caffeine pills when pure caffeine powder and DIY pill presses exist, which can make you own caffeine pills for a fraction of the price of pre-made caffeine pills. Everything is relative, everything is a choice, everything is a tradeoff.

[@kinghenryxl1747]

@@rkx0 Starbucks coffee isn't the most expensive coffee shop. I don't know why people keep believing this trope

[@BegginerGamer24]

​@@kinghenryxl1747 It's still overpriced tho

[@alv_gc]

Starbucks was seen outside of the US as "American coffee" which in countries with strong coffee culture (like my home country Spain) is seen a bad quality, burned and watery coffee. So why buy it?

[@ronald3836]

But still there are 60 Starbucks in Madrid alone. Probably because of a mix of tourists and young people thinking Starbucks is somehow cool.

[@bzuidgeest]

​@@ronald3836correct dinner for Italy and several other countries. Visiting became somewhat of a status thing for young people. But the customer base is mostly tourists. They recognize it from home. Finding locals in Starbucks is somewhat harder.

[@Dave_Sisson]

Living in Melbourne, probably the coffee snob capital of the world, where most of my friends have a big coffee machine, I was interested to see what an American chain could offer. So when Starbucks arrived, I tired their product and I found it to be... "acceptable", the sort of thing you might get at a friends house, but definitely no better. And no, the ludicrous combinations didn't appeal, I just wanted a decent standard coffee like a macchiato or flat white, etc. So Starbucks sold coffee that wasn't as good as almost any corner cafe at a higher price. I was not surprised that a year after rolling out hundreds of outlets, Starbucks closed 95% of them down, only leaving a few in areas frequented by international tourists.

Exactly! Even in places with weaker or newer coffee culture Starbucks isn't seen as good. When I was living in London most people I knew saw Starbucks as a McDonald's for coffee. When I moved to Edinburgh it didn't get better, most people would make jokes about badly written names but nobody mentioned the drink itself. Neither city is lacking teashops or cafes, so paying more for something that is much worse?

@@ronald3836 Some people see it as a status thing. I remember going out in Birmingham (UK) with a friend, she invited me for a coffee and literally dragged me to the Starbucks in the Bullring just to buy the most expensive giant drink I've seen in my life. I asked for a flat white and it was so meh that all I remember is the plastic bendy cup it was in.

[@CaseyNeuville]

F*** Starbucks! Support local coffeeshops.

[@david5929]

Why?

[@raulrahaman9863]

@@david5929why not?

[@nightreader1264]

It has been 7 months, still not going to Starbucks.

[@irmaiz133]

They are falling like dominoes here in NYC. Google Astor place Starbucks. Now the one on Park and 23rd is closing as well as of last week.

[@TheJosephPrice]

Greed. That is the short answer. The company has refused to hire enough staff, despite most orders now being mobile orders and the staff is struggling to keep up. They keep raising prices, far above the average levels of inflation. They always have done this. They also have been dealing with terrible mismanagement for years. That hasn’t improved. Their new CEO ruined Chipotle and is getting paid handsomely AND gets to commute back and forth to Seattle from CA on a private plane. You can bet Starbucks will be helping with that.

[@eversor10]

And coffee is stupid

[@xiphoid2011]

Their new CEO didn't ruin Chipotle. Just look at Chipotle stock, it's up 44% for 1 year and up 234% for the last 5 years (where as Starbucks stocks are down both in 1 year and 5 years) This is why Starbucks is bring him on as a firefighter CEO. Remember, companies exist to make money for investors. In this regard, starbucks is a failure, while chiptole is a winner.

[@eversor10]

@TheJosephPrice greed really isn't the reason they've drifted from there successful business model. Not all corporate issues are down to price gouging that's a plebbit take

[@athlon9394]

Seems to me that Starbucks's prices have increased below the level of inflation. For me, even with no inflation it's still too expensive, but that's just me.

[@jeabo0adhd]

This is part of the plan. 1) Find a successful, iconic company. 2) Cost reduce for record profits. 3) Leave when the reputation is destroyed. There's a whole class of CEOs who go from company to company doing this. Screwing employees and ripping off the customers.

[@dihyaneverforget5163]

I joined the boycott and started supporting the local coffee shop, I saved money and lost weight... never going back

[@jasmines.6325]

Boycotting groceries but not terror? Are u also boycotting audi and BMW, the family that controls the majority of shares (Quandt family) are descendants of Goebbels, a prominent nazi

[@mbuhplus7800]

Exactly

[@bastienguerre]

Here is why they suck: a) too expensive 💸 b) poor quality coffee 🥴 c) too corporate 🏢 a) most of us drink coffee everyday... if I were to pay $3 per day for a full year = $1000+. For most of us, this is a LOT of money. b) especially considering that their coffee are awful... and it will never be: Good quality coffee comes from carefully crafted beans, which is impossible to get when you are selling 4 billions cup per year. To be able to serve that quantity of coffee, they have to decrease quality. They are trapped... in being a global, faceless brand: c) Starbucks is no longer the cool, indy, local coffeeshop we like visiting. It's a mega corporation that provide the same experience regardless where you are, with staff that don't know/care about you. They've become pretty much the opposite of a premium coffeeshop. To survive they need to radically reinvent themselves. My bet is that companies like Odeko are the future. They provide the ecosytem and tech for local coffeeshop to thrive. Soon, most local coffeeshop will have the same tech and financial support as Starbuck...

[@Avo7bProject]

The seating is also not as comfortable and lounge-like as it was 20 years ago. This fits in with your "corporatism" bullet point, but the decore leads customers to feel more like it's a fast-food place, somewhere to grab a mug of something and a snack, and leave. Not to hang out or work on your laptop.

[@Anadrolus]

And their coffee is overroasted.

[@raylopez99]

Best coffee beans are said to be found in the waste of certain mountain monkeys in Thailand... facts.

[@Anadrolus]

@@raylopez99 it's not a fact, this is marketing to sell you crazy overpriced beans like Kopi Luwak

[@tomkandy]

None of these explanations are helpful, because none of them are new. People have been saying that starbucks are overpriced corporate crap since the nineties, and that hasn't stopped them growing. They need to have become more expensive in real terms, or there needs to have been some secular trend towards quality, and that seems harder to argue.

[@GregPederson]

I used to frequent Starbucks regularly, but ended up taking my business to local shops instead. A big reason for me quitting Starbucks was because every time they “revamped” their rewards program, it got stingier and stingier. The final straw was them retroactively wiping out 2 coffees that I had earned with rewards.

[@jagjotbehbal742]

For me, the scariest part is tipping. I used to buy a coffee for around $4 in Toronto, but tipping pushes me to get it from my work cafe where it costs nothing. Who really wants or expects to tip at a quick service restaurant?

[@ILoveTinfoilHats]

Just don't tip

[@SuperBabyMario0C]

You don’t have to tip bro they get paid. This isn’t a waitress or bus boy lmao. Why is that so hard for ppl. Get yo drink and leave

[@prins_af_danmark]

TORONTO IS FAST BECOMING LIKE THE FAMOUS TOURIST TRAP V***** IN ITALY. ONLY THAT YOU GUYS AREN'T EVEN TOURISTS. YOU LIVE THERE, AND GET RIPPED OFF EVERYDAY, EVERYWHERE. ENJOY THE BEAUTIFUL SUNSET OVER THE GRAND CANAL!

[@stevenveltrie1868]

1) Overpriced 2) taste burnt 3) Sugar and lots of calories .

[@rxonmymind8362]

It didn't always used to be that way either.

[@TBird89]

@@rxonmymind8362 mate seriously …I don’t know how old you are but your Americans have been drinking percolated coffee since the late 60s. You always had espresso but you choose to be fat arses and consume unnecessary copious amounts of watered down over sweetened shit you call coffee. Espresso comes in 6, 8, 10 ounce serving size cups nothing else. You still choose to you drive everywhere …roll down your window and have someone pass you your daily calories. Learn to go somewhere and sit eat and drink and talk casually. You do have venues that offer this but you gotta get outside your comfort zone and find them.

[@jimmykim13]

Also I'm not paying tips to what is practically the same thing as a fast food.

[@TBird89]

@@jimmykim13 why is tipping still a thing in the US your wages have gone up enough.

[@johntravolta8389]

4) they support Israel which triggered the worldwide boycott

[@ichiro.g]

Answer: corporate greed

[@mitas3484]

The conflict between customers and shareholders interests.

[@mikek545]

Na it’s because they supported IraHELL and got boycotted

[@brianwings6908]

Corporations can't be greedy, only humans can.

[@SpudhutCXrep]

@@mikek545they were already on the decline. Just a clarification, they threatened to sue union workers over their support for victims but starbucks as a company does not give money to the IDF and has not had branches in Israel/Palestine for years. Their union busting shenanigans have been getting them in hot waters for years too.

[@___-yy8ud]

wrong

[@FBIagentObama]

“Boycotts don’t work please stop boycotting us!!!! 😭 😭 “

[@M----S]

Yes sure i can say this to your wisdom

[@EternalKhann]

They can pretend all they want, manipulate numbers even. Ultimately, customers are voting with their purses.

[@FBIagentObama]

@@Supermoneygang12 are you saying boycotting as a concept doesn’t work or this one in particular?

[@rahmadisatriowibowo7019]

"Boycott" is just "Sanction" but socialist (both are arguably same btw)

[@anloff]

keep boycotting, you are bankrupting your own people, besides that as Israeli myself, i consider starbucks and mcdonalds as useless american toxic waste of concerete with a sign that sells bull droplings with a bun.

[@YC-bk3fl]

Where I am the boycott is a huge part of it.

[@putra4101]

This media will not tell you that, they will tried to think Boycott didn't do anything, while in reality this company along with McD and other several business is facing a huge loss of profit, not including divestment too and others. Just another typical western media propaganda.

[@MichaelDavis-mk4me]

99% of places have never heard of the boycott. Just like a bunch people boycotted Nestle, it is very hard to find someone who gives a crap about a company, they just want cheap goods.

[@TekindusT]

People are just thinking twice before dropping 7€ in a coffee. The same 7€ can get you a bag of specialty coffee at a nice supermarket that will last for around 20 generous brews on a moka pot. It’s simple maths.

[@vboyz21]

Only 1 Starbucks exists in my city (A Coruña, Spain), the rest have closed down. It just doesn't tickle people's fancy over here. People prefer traditional coffee shops.

[@AvoidTheCadaver]

Starbucks tried to take on the Australian cafe scene. And failed hard. Australians can be exceedingly fussy about their brews and loyal to their local cafes. Starbucks retreated then relaunched with a something more akin to Australian style cafes but I wouldn't say they're doing that well still. For example, within a 7km radius from my home in Sydney there are at least 50 independent coffee Roasters. Not cafes, but coffee roasteries. I kid you not, coffee is that serious in Sydney (Melbourne is at least that serious if not more so than Sydney)

[@rossco5409]

​@@AvoidTheCadaverYes Aussies drink crap beer 😅

[@todortodorov6056]

You are lucky. I live in Berlin, and they are overpriced and bad. Most Berliners never go there. But there are enough uneducated tourists, especially Americans, that they keep them alive. And with enough money, they buy and close down the local coffee shops.

[@asifzaffer809]

@@AvoidTheCadaver Exactly this. I read recently there are over 7000 independent cafes in Sydney and only 20 Starbucks (most of them in tourist heavy spots). Nobody goes to Starbucks for coffee here. Aimed more at dessert style drinks

[@vomitingwinter2614]

​@rossco5409 nah, most aussies don't drink garbage beer. It's more the stereotypical australian shown on American TV, I'm from aus and I've never seen a single person drink a Foster's. In fact, we make alot of jokes about how aussies are always shown with Foster's for some reason, but no one here would be caught dead actually drinking it

[@ShantyIrishman]

The only time I’m going to Starbucks now is if I’m up too early for a local spot to be open or I’m at an airport.

[@geznicks]

I really can't understand why anyone would go to Starbucks. Your local independent coffee shop does infinitely better coffee at a similar price

[@frankhuurman3955]

cheaper prices even

[@Philipk65]

I can tell you what happened to Starbucks in Australia. Bad coffee.

[@yt.personal.identification]

Dish water in a cup

[@matthewbrady5848]

Actually this will be interesting. They are building a store in Perth. Which I think it's the first time they have been here. I know there are a lot of jokes about us being backwards compared to other states. But I think its safe to say our standards for coffee is just as high. I'm curious to see how it goes.

[@the_clawing_chaos]

Most starbucks in Australia are targeted to tourists who don't know what good coffee is.

[@matthewparker9276]

​@@matthewbrady5848it'll probably turn out like the other Starbucks shops in Australia. Catering mainly to American tourists.

[@zodiacgaming2907]

I don’t understand why a lot of Australians keep comparing Starbucks to independent, non-chain coffee shops though. isn’t that comparing apples with oranges? as a foreigner who used to frequent Perth, I find chains like Gloria Jean’s, Jamaica Blue, and particularly The Coffee Club to be just as mediocre if not downright terrible. the thing about small coffe shops is that no matter how great they are, they are stuck to that one or few locations. it’s not something you can grab somewhere else closer to or otherwise more convenient for you.

[@Elmcharfi]

Nobody is mentioning the boycott effect on stsrbucks

[@nightreader1264]

I am proud to say that it has been 7 months since I last bought something from them!

[@carls-95]

A big part of this has to be the fact that far fewer people are going into the office to work now since covid... I should imagine a large number of regular customers were commuters...

[@chilledoutgamer3232]

In the UK, they force all the staff to ask you your name, as kind of a false-friendly move which makes you feel uncomfortable. Someone at their head office had this stupid idea - Companies rot from the top down.

[@willg9106]

Café culture has exploded and the average high street has multitudes of alternatives. How can they be surprised they're losing customers when actively offering less (i.e. becoming glorified drive-throughs).

[@DarkHarlequin]

Yeah I was surprised that was not mentioned. In nearly every airport, train station or bigger city I now see a bunch of ´coffee fellows´ ´Star coffee´ etc. stores that vibe as "we´re basically like starbucks but not starbucks and cheaper" to me down to the selection and interior. That much competition HAS to bite 🤨

[@cobbler9113]

A Starbucks opened at the train station I commute from. I thought I would grab breakfast there and eat on the train. I got a medium mocha and a panini and it cost around £13.00. Absolutely ridiculous price. Not that any of their competitors are better, Pret charged my wife and I £18 for two drinks, sandwiches and packets of crisps. This is a bubble waiting to burst.

[@hurrdurrmurrgurr]

If you thought the prices were ridiculous why did you buy it? It's not like Starbucks keeps the price a mystery before handing you the bill.

[@ronald3836]

@@hurrdurrmurrgurr A simple way to find out the price is to order, see what the damage is, and then decide never to return if you feel cheated.

[@cobbler9113]

@@hurrdurrmurrgurr In my defence, it was 6:30 in the morning and I just wanted some breakfast.

[@Sarnarath]

Imagine it was a whole lot cheaper, i would expect people to come in more often.

[@SuperBabyMario0C]

I mean, you don’t have to eat breakfast. You “wanted” but were you starving to death? We’re you Christian bale in the mechanist? No

[@OilBaron100]

StarBucks really failed in Australia, years ago. We have higher expectations in our coffee than Americans do.

[@anthonydpearson]

The funny thing is that American coffee these days is actually great (and I'm saying that as an expat Australian). It's just corporate coffee that sucks lol, but any independent coffee house in the US will give you coffee on par with anywhere in Australia.

[@bridgeseller]

Way to generalize. Good work there.

[@Sarnarath]

People just want a coffee or a quick burger at McDonalds, not paying restaurant prices for fastfood.

[@SuperBabyMario0C]

Yeah but Starbucks was never either. So idk where being cheap like McDonald’s or quick came from. Now a days that what they should push for but ppl expecting something that it never was is random

[@TheNinjaDC]

The problem is Starbucks tries to still pretend it is a premium product, or specifically the best coffee in an area (and charge for that). However, EVERYWHERE in the US has local cafes nowadays that will give you better coffee, service, and prices. The one thing Starbucks has a leg up on is frapps.

[@SatongiFilms]

because we all want to buy coffee from a company whose CEO flies 1600miles to work every week on a private jet. honestly, i'm glad we don't have a single starbucks in Lithuania.

[@SSH487]

Boycotta work

[@lavalamp6410]

I tried starbucks coffee once, it was some of the worst coffee I have had in decades. It was weak, tasted really bad and was overpriced. I can only conclude they used poor quality beans. I'm used to the coffee we have in Australia which is usually really high quality and tasty. I never had starbucks coffee again, just that once.

[@bathombre9739]

And bitter

@@bathombre9739 I don't find it bitter, I find watery.

[@yogi_gs]

​@@bathombre9739Well its a coffe what you expect from coffe ?

[@b3thamphetamine]

The beans aren't necessarily poor quality. They get the life roasted out of them to promote consistency across the global brand. That is why their coffee sucks.

[@timor64]

Perhaps its like this. People start their coffee journey at Starbucks, then they realise that there is much better coffee available elsewhere. So it's finally peaked.

[@mbn9672]

Genocide is not in vogue

[@sinocte]

Starbucks popularized the "fancy coffee" fad in the US... But now there are a ton of places to get your coffee treats, and quite a few of them just make better coffee than Starbucks.

[@wendypierce5621]

They’ve made the stores much less welcoming, getting rid of comfy seating and many of their electrical outlets.

[@TheBooban]

That’s the main reason I go to Starbucks when traveling. Reliable rest stop. If the comfy seats and clean toilets are gone, then they got nothing left to compete with.

[@wh880]

The coffee is gross, so im not surprised 😭

[@MatthewJBD]

It's expensive and bad.

[@dulio12385]

Schultz is a genius. He hoodwinked people into paying 10 bucks for something they could do at home for .50 cents, even when you factor in the price of an espresso brewer/grinder like a Dinamica.

[@doujinflip]

The genius wasn't in the coffee, but in turning the coffeeshop into basically a daytime bar where people can meet up over pretty good fresh brewed coffee. Much like how we pay way more for freshly poured drinks at a bar when we could have it ourselves at home for a fraction of the cost.

[@dlewis9760]

He hoodwinked no one. I'm sure you have brands that come out of the same child labor sweat shops as the no name stuff. But you flex to the world wearing the branded stuff.

[@mravacado1587]

In Turkey, they shrinked their packaging for ground coffee from 227gr to 200gr hoping that customers wouldn't notice. I call this bad practice. deceptive behaviour with bad taste

[@caseclosed9342]

Starbucks isn’t a coffee shop. It’s a bank that sells coffee…

[@TumbleDuck8]

Edgy

[@paul6925]

I’m a Starbucks addict but the stores (in Toronto at least) feel like an assembly line with workers who don’t give a 💩. I used to go and chat to other regulars and stay for hours buying different drinks while I studied or worked. Now I just want to get out of there because it’s so loud, often huge lineups for takeout, and many of the baristas have terrible customer service skills. Why pay a premium for that? There’s just too many other options now

[@SuperBabyMario0C]

So it gets busy n crazy n you know this, but somehow make it baristas problem they can’t sit and chat and listen to your boring stories when they need to make drinks for other ppl who paid as well. 🤡

[@paul6925]

@@SuperBabyMario0C I’m not even that talkative, piss stain. They’re usually the ones being friendly. And let me be clear, when I say terrible service I mean not even a hello or a slight smile.

[@GO-sz1nv]

Having worked at Starbucks, they are likely overworked. They make 2 or 3 people do the job of 5+. Blame that change on corporate greed.

[@GO-sz1nv]

​@@SuperBabyMario0CSome people are just super entitled and privileged.

[@paul6925]

@@GO-sz1nv No doubt. Yea that's why I said it's like an assembly line

[@abdullahbinmadhi8306]

tbh multiple reasons why starbucks has lost its appeal and it varies based on countries, like western countries they say its overpriced for a terrible coffee and Muslim countries boycotting starbucks in which no one even dares to enter starbucks fearing being labeled as a traitor and some people will film u if u enter it which happened in saudi arabia, I'm not sure the media says boycotting didn't make much effect because I think its owned by jews. Furthermore, Starbucks has lost to coffee enthusiasts and now caters to people who drink coffee with addons and flavors or just fraps, and Starbucks has lost its 3rd place appeal because now local coffee shops are more aesthetic, better coffee, cheaper and u wont be labeled as an idiot by coffee enthusiasts which made Starbucks lose its status symbol. All these factors are adding up and yet starbucks only acknowledges to the public about the price but privately its also aware that boycotting has affected them a lot and it bites them in every quarter.

[@SeanHartnett-t8c]

In my progressive part of california no one wants scab genocide coffee.

[@KittySnicker]

I never understood the need for the complicated orders. I’m half convinced people make complicated orders to feel important. The most complicated order I make is an Americano with half n half and a pump of vanilla.

[@stevedgrossman]

Bumper stickers in Seattle "Friends don't let friends drink Starbucks".

[@giorgia9994]

2:26 "Il giornale" means the newspaper, while "il giornaliero" is the translation of the daily

[@Luzyfilms]

6:45 You said “a fall in staff numbers” but as a barista at Starbucks I wanted to point out that we actually have more people on our staff than ever (atleast at my store) but they are scheduling everyone less and less causing employees to find second jobs. We currently have at most 4 people on the floor while having times where we are making 1000+ an hour causing us to be overworked and stressed.

[@GO-sz1nv]

YEEEEP. The schedule practices are super stingy and predatory. And then customers berate you because you have two ovens with 30+ food orders waiting to be warmed up as if you can possibly do anything about that.

[@SeanHartnett-t8c]

@@GO-sz1nv Yep that is exactly what happens

[@doncarlodivargas5497]

In the 2017 i worked with a colleague that went to Starbucks every single day and followed him of course, in the beginning i did not think much about it, but after a couple of weeks i began reflecting over what it would cost me over a year, if i followed him each day, think more people like me should make such calculations

[@alexandersebela370]

Exactly, I'm now hinking what cost me whole a month or a year. 5 dollars a day isn't much but in month its 150, in a year 1800. Thats a lot of money you can use for something else. Starbucks is OK from time to time but it's overpriced as you stated.

[@doncarlodivargas5497]

@@alexandersebela370 - exactly, I hadn't mind if the coffee cost 10$, I can afford it and it is nice doing things together and sit and talk, but as you write, some ~1.800$ are quite a lot of money

[@Alpinex105]

The boycott bro

[@armastus1474]

CEO gets million to sign on and private jet travel and doesn’t need to relocate. Unionize folks! US corporations have taken enough from us all.

[@Williamb612]

What is truly wrong is that it costs 4-5 dollars for caffeinated water. They can only extract so much money from a coffee bean before it becomes bitter and tasteless

[@IRSH-sy5jn]

It's Sanday today and I just went and set outside and had a coffee at Starbucks. It's Not as nice the house coffee. When I can go to Waitrose and get a free cup of coffee. Which is much Better

[@princemidus8211]

A small coffee has gone from about $3 or $4 to a $8 minimum (based on my average experience) Cost to make it at home, less than ONE DOLLAR per cup, it’s a no brainer.

[@SuperBabyMario0C]

Bro it’s $2.94 rn on the app for medium not $8 lmao.

[@Foxyfreedom]

Used to drink their cold brew a lot. Used to work there, hated that work environment. The coffee was terrible and gave me stomach issues. I haven’t been back there in over a year and I feel way better physically mentally and financially

[@Avo7bProject]

Coffee is just too expensive everywhere. Even truck stop coffee is into the $2 to $2.50 range for a small mug. I finally gave up coffee about 4 months ago. Even at home.

[@GanglionAI]

I know its considered uncool and can never quite match up to coffee made straight out of beans but IMHO instant coffee scales really well both in terms of time and money as well as availability, and can be made reasonably interesting if one goes past the usual Folgers-Nescafe most common version (instant espressos, Mexican, straight-from-farm variants etc..)

[@vanrozay8871]

Much of Starbucks's appeal was its charm, its European coffee house vibe. Now, near me in Moraga, CA, the Starbucks outlet feels like a cattle car, lacking the human touch and casual atmosphere. They take orders, then deliver the orders after a few minutes at the end of a counter. They stint on personal options, adding milk and sweetener as if a company cafeteria. How did it come to this? I avoid the place. Howard would go nuts if he checked out the place. Damn good reason to fail.

[@jason4275]

_I hate seeing just how the overworked nightmare their employees goes through, how horrible the customers behave and how they constantly disrespects the workers, I buy Starbucks once or twice a year max, last time I was inside a Starbucks was in January and only went in because I won a gift card._

[@Daniel31415]

In London, I'm pretty certain Black Sheep Coffee must've stolen a sizeable chunk of Starbucks' market share. Black Sheep is charging the same prices as Starbucks but is just way more delicious

[@Expendable1]

Seemed like quite an ommission to not mention the reputational damage union busting did.

[@technic_angel]

I’m no longer paying $8 for a drink that’s not even made correctly and tastes different every time. You can retire now Starbucks. BYE.

[@keymot1491]

doin allat to dismiss the BDS movement🤦‍♂️

[@ozzie2545]

They don't even sell coffee, they sell a sugar and milk mixture with a flavor.

[@muhammad-bin-american]

The few times I have been to Starbucks I always regret it. At lease they used to have a welcoming environments in their stores but not anymore. In fact now they don't pay attention to you at all unless you're an online customer.

[@IsamBitar]

Underestimate the effects of boycotts at your own peril. Thanks to boycotts alone Starbucks had to leave the Moroccan market entirely and has so far shut down 40+ stores in Kuwait and Jordan.

[@AustinC79]

$6 for a regular cup of coffee is what is wrong.

[@SuperBabyMario0C]

The app says $2.94 for a medium coffee cream and sugar 🤷🏻‍♀ source, Starbucks app. I think the issue is the speed for me. Everyone ordering 5 dumb drinks with 50 mods while I’m behind them is really annoying

[@AhmedElmanzalawi]

I stopped drinking Starbucks and I was able to get a Mortage. This is the way to wealth, ceasing to drink Starbucks. Thank you Tory MPs for your great financial advice.

[@Najdmie]

People always underestimate the boycott. Sure the boycott is seasonal, but the season always come, as it has been for the past 75 years.

[@rahmadisatriowibowo7019]

well, "boycott" is ordinary people's version of state-mandated "sanction", and afaik the whole boycott thing exist ever since democracy was invented

[@SeanHartnett-t8c]

@@rahmadisatriowibowo7019 I mean I have been on the boycott foe abour 4 years.

[@dlewis9760]

Corporate food and beverage chains are fine and preferable as Road Food. If I am traveling 4-5 hours from A to B and stop for something, I know the quality (even if not great) will be consistent. I'm not there to check the sites out or talk to the locals for 2 hours. Also, local food may not agree with me, and I don't want that if I'm hopping back on the highway. But, if I'm not going anywhere, yeah, I prefer the local stuff.

[@SeanHartnett-t8c]

You a trucker?

[@timothyharris4708]

Tasteless coffee. What was that joke about American Budweiser? ‘Why is Budweiser like making love in a boat?’ Answer: ‘F…ing near water.'

[@georgemitchel23]

I went to Mexico a few weeks ago, more specifically, Tijuana. Starbucks was HUGE in Mexico but now there is a local business called Caffenio taking ALL the Starbucks clients and people love their drinks. They are not even cheaper but people grew tired of Starbucks there. It was funny how people look at me weird when I asked for a Starbucks and told me to go to Caffenio, worth it ❤

[@lobstermash]

This is the first time I heard that Starbucks saw themselves as "premium". Competing with Dunkin' Donuts. Good grief. And all that artificial whipped cream and confectionery 🤢

[@alisonk5807]

Fwiw, the whipped cream is just cream, sugar, and vanilla. It's not artificial

[@lobstermash]

@@alisonk5807 Interesting. When I was in the States I never encountered real cream. I assumed Cool Whip.

[@SuperBabyMario0C]

I mean it’s different in other countries, might be cool whip. I mean coke in the US is corn syrup, not even real sugar, but it is in Mexico

[@GO-sz1nv]

​@@lobstermashIt's made in the store. It's not artificial.

[@GO-sz1nv]

​@@lobstermashThe syrups are another story. Just liquefied sugar 🤢

[@AlexMnemonic]

i hate it when people use the word 'literally'. 383 billion isn't "literally 400 million"

[@Florida_kayaking]

They charge a ton for crappy coffee. Half the time, they are surprised you even want normal coffee. Also, they actively make their interior Cafe into a cold and uncomfortable place to discourage people from staying long, defeating the purpose of the cafe... it says something when McDonald's has better seating.

[@WhichDoctor1]

There’s a Starbucks in my town. But there’s also at least a dozen independent coffee shops that sell comparative to vastly superior coffee for at least 30% cheaper. Starbucks has a prime spot in the very centre of town, so they still get lots of customers because of its visibility and from visitors. But I never choose to stop there because it’s literally the worst option

[@TBird89]

Because Americans don’t understand coffee or cafe culture. Everything is ordered as large, bastardised and over sweetened. The (food) pastry’s are overpriced, undersized and the same shit year after year. Sell 8 ounce and 12 ounce cups sizes and remove all the artificial sweetners. Provide more hot snacks and let people sit, eat and drink and they’ll spend more. It’s not a secret. That would reduce their costs by 30/40% by providing less crap. Also train staff how to expand milk properly not the soap suds they pour into the cups.

[@bh4462]

That sort of pivot may have been attainable in the past, but not now. The problem with this type of transition is that it does not at all fit what Starbucks does now. They are the place you get big stupid sugar bombs. People who want the cafe experience... will go to a real cafe. It's too big and too corporate to try and go back to cozy cafe vibes.

[@Jabid21]

The thing about America is that outside of large cities, most of USA is a car-centric suburbia where everything is a corporate-chain store in a large parking lot with a drive thru, this is one big reason large chains like Starbucks dominate and independently owned artisan coffee shops cannot thrive.

[@TBird89]

@@Jabid21 you’re right but the Americans have chosen to move away from the cultural aspect of greet and eat. I was in Abilene ( I’m from Sydney) last year and every venue we went to sit and eat or drink coffee was like this… Americans would order…then scoff down any freebies (like cinnamon bread etc) then eat the food ordered, barely talk and get up and leave within 35mins if that. We sit eat talk, laugh and talk more and then look at the deserts and then leave slowly in 2 hrs. See your people choose to eat on the go by just stuffing your faces. You choose not to support the Europeans or Asian food venues, because like most Americans eating at Panda express or ordering TexMex you think it’s authentic or original food. Guess what … you’re not even close. Coffee was brought over to the US by the Europeans and espresso was consumed before perculated coffee because if was offered for free at work and boiled overnight and you just added toxic sweeteners to make it go down better for 60/70 years. Remember monkey see monkey do. Like most Americans you think that you’re the only country on the planet. Most of you don’t where New Hampshire is. At the moment you’re trying to influence the world by calling chicken burgers …chicken sandwiches!

[@jjandorliadul]

I remember I asked for a real cup, not a to-go cardboard one. They had to ask the manager to find one and run it through the diswasher.

[@kmo20794]

Your understanding of the US is based on stereotypes from the 70s. Things have changed a lot. Not to mention your casual racism lol

[@GregStenson]

Let's not forget that a lot of people have shifted over to frequenting true coffee shops or cafés where you can get an actual well-roasted, well-prepared premium coffee drink for the same price or less than a Starbucks product. The market for indie coffee brands, roasters, and cafés is very saturated now.

[@twillongenbone4057]

Overpriced, frequently lousy coffee. Honestly, Starbucks is basically my last resort. There are A LOT of great coffee shops nowadays, and they're usually no more expensive.

[@greentravels2850]

A 'Futurama' joke from 2003 is roughly true now. $300 dollar tax rebate; a hundred cups of coffee for Fry. I haven't been to Starbucks in years but recently wandered into the one in my local mall just to see the prices; just a few cents shy of $3 for a "grande" drip coffee; I turned right back around and walked out.

[@steveburke7675]

It's the product...it hasn't been good in many yrs. You cant sustain a world-wide business on October Pumpkin Spice lattes. Why would I buy corporate coffee when I can get better from the little coffee shop down the street? EDIT: Another complaint is they stopped grinding beans in each Starbucks yrs ago...the place doesnt even smell like coffee!

[@b3thamphetamine]

That's weird, in all of the locations I've worked at, the only pre-ground beans were the iced coffees and a selection of bagged take home coffee during the winter holidays. I wonder if that's a licensee thing. Regardless, I agree wholeheartedly about the little spots. Most of my coffee is the free swill I get from work, but I still pick up bags from the local shops. If you can support local, do it. You'll get much better, fresher beans that way and you'll likely have a better experience because corporate forces us to prioritize low drive-thru times over good customer service.

[@Dean1000...]

Watching/ listening this while drinking Starbucks chilled coffee with no added sugar bought in regular store. It is more expensive than some other brands of chilled coffee.

[@thomaslou624]

When a drink cost more than a meal…

[@rami8896]

Their coffee is awful, and I think the boycott also made people realize how your local coffee shop sells better coffee for a cheaper price too

[@truelies5431]

4 years ago i had one of the worst coffees at starbucks... that was my realization of how it trashy it became and it's going to be from now on... and here we are now..

[@zanetrively1891]

Some starbucks locations have also lately felt a lot less intentional and clean too which definitely made that premium vibe a harder sell for me. It does depends on the neighborhood, but the only reason I’d go to starbucks over a local shop is consistency of experience and coffee no matter where I am, which I feel no longer exists. They got too big.

[@eddieg6436]

The Starbucks stores took away MANY seating areas in their stores due to homelessness, and crime. The drinks are TOO EXPENSIVE. I get annoyed by the him/ her “WOKE” employees. ………I quit going around 2004…….WASTE OF MONEY.

[@GO-sz1nv]

Crying about "woke" employees 😂 Mind your own business crybaby

[@evanthesquirrel]

I'm a new England guy. The biggest difference between SB and Dunkin (at least before Dunkin dropped the donuts) was that Dunkin could get a like out the door through the store faster than Starbucks could handle a line of 3.

[@autarchprinceps]

Starbucks is supposed to be premium coffee? How?

[@b3thamphetamine]

The magic of marketing 😂

[@swisstroll3]

I regularly used to buy Starbucks coffee at the local mall before the pandemic. When they reopened afterwards, I tried to use a coupon. The mall Starbucks didn’t take the coupon, saying “We don’t take coupons. We are a kiosk, not a Starbucks store. That was about a year ago. I have never gone back to Starbucks. I used to go at least five times a week. They seem desperate to get me back. First they offered any drink for $5. Then 2 for $10 or 4 for $20. Their latest offer is $3. But I am not interested anymore.

[@EricBoulton26]

As someone who is kind of meh on coffee, Starbucks has become stale and old the last 5 years. Despite holding hundreds of dollars in gift card money from birthday and Christmas gifts, I rarely go in there unless I need a "free" bottle of water or a stash of cold drinks if I'm on the road. I find myself more attracted to bubble tea shops, which can be just as expensive, if not more so. You can get multiple types of tea, boba, and fruit flavors (some fresh) all under one roof. The wild success of Starbucks experiment with boba should be a wake up call.

[@r.d.vaughan4541]

I heard a comment about delivery coffee and my head exploded. A Starbucks coffee is already expensive and then add delivery charges and any complaints about inflation seems mute. There seems to be no end to consumer stupidity. When I first had a Starbucks coffee I didn't like the stronger taste and that never changed.

[@priscilaundomiel3264]

- The ship is sinking! - Don't worry, Schultz will come back to save us! - The world is in danger! - Don't worry, Schultz will come back to save us! Schultz will save us all! 😇🙏🙌 Schultz is the chosen one! 😎 😂😂😂

[@matthewcook9404]

Their coffee tastes dreadful. I went once …… never to return.

[@fb150185]

Starbucks= premium? Outside of the US Starbucks has terrible coffee. People go because it's trendy or convenient. But it's not because it's good coffee.

[@b3thamphetamine]

I promise it's terrible coffee inside the US, too. 😂

[@DeepFriedLotus]

Luxury consumables are absolutely off the table for 95% of the newly minted post pandemic renting class in America

[@Jedsa009]

I wonder how premium drinking boiled water they call coffee is.

[@carmineglitch]

The earnings always say it all. Sales down, cost of product is up, min wage is up, demand is down, a recipe for a disaster