Starbucks

Introduction

Millions of people all over the world walk into Starbucks every day for their cup

of coffee.Starbucks was established in Seattle, USA in 1971 and today, there are 18000 stores in 50 countries. Starbucks mission is to "inspire and nurture the human spirit-- one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time." Starbucks purchases and roasts high-quality whole bean coffees and sells them along with fresh, rich-brewed, Italian style espresso beverages, a variety of pastries and confections, and coffee-related accessories and equipment .

Industry analysis

Millions of people around the world enjoy on their morning, afternoon, and

sometimes evening coffee. Due to the massive amount of consumers for the coffee

industry, there is also a lot of competition for those consumers. Coffee has been around

for a long time, but the competition of coffee retailers has just recently sprouted with

coffee sales rising more than 50% in 2011.The main competitors that

will be examined in this thesis are Starbucks, McDonald’s McCafe, and coffee bean.

The dominant economic characteristics of the industry environment have to be

examined in order to determine where the industry is headed, and why Starbucks is a

excellent model to follow. The coffee industry is continuing to grow regardless of the increasing

costs for coffee from January of 2010’s 112.39 U.S. cents per lb. to December of 2011’s

118.23. U.S. cents per lb. ("International Coffee Organization Prices," 2011). The almost

200% increase in the price of the coffee bean over the last two years has hurt the overall

profits of everyone in the coffee industry. The price has been rising, not simply due to

the price of coffee itself, but also the supply chain and the current economic

situation around the world. Last year Starbucks had to raise prices a littele bit globally, but

especially in the United States and China, due to rising prices for coffee and other

ingredients, but this year they are taking...