Starbucks Keeps It Brewing in Asia

There are several barriers facing Starbucks as they try to “teach” people to change their consumption habits from tea to coffee. The most obvious being that tea is the most common drink in China. The Chinese view tea to be both medicinal and beneficial, whereas coffee does not have the same value to the Chinese. In addition to this, one has to take into consideration the vast area of China; it would be very difficult to get coffee to the more rural areas of the country. Not only that, they have less familiarity with coffee and don’t have as much money to spend on the more expensive beverage. Lastly, the vast majority of the Chinese market who drink coffee are accustom to instant coffee. Having them change to brewed coffee could prove to be a long and arduous task.

2. Starbucks could customize or remake some of their existing products to make them less expensive and more attune to China’s taste, which would be sweeter beverages. They may even want to look into making their own form of instant coffee to go along with their individual bag of beans they sell for consumers to brew at home. Perhaps they could also look into creating and adding more emphasis on their tea beverages because they don’t just sell coffee. By expanding their tea products, they could lure more customers in who may be interested in trying coffee. However, the risk of customization can affect the quality of their product and cause their products to be more expensive. They need to make these changes without losing their Starbucks image.