Starbucks Coffee Company Analysis

Essay by bawiiiUniversity, Bachelor'sA-, March 2009

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Starbucks is the leading roaster and retailer of specialty coffee in the world and was founded in 1971 and based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 11,168 stores in 44 countries. Starbucks sells drip-brewed coffee, espresso-based hot drinks, Tazo teas, snacks and items such as mugs, and of course, their well renowned coffee beans. Within the last month, Starbucks has also launched a new instant coffee to compete in even more markets. This paper is an overview of the Starbucks Coffee Company and will provide recommendations regarding price, production, and composition of inputs.

Company OverviewStarbucks Coffee Company began in 1971 out of Seattle, WA. The company opened the first store in Seattle's famous Pikes Place Market. In the mid 1980s Starbucks tested the concept of the small espresso bars and they were a huge hit. Between 1985 and 1991, Starbucks changed its name to Starbucks Coffee Company and acquired more than 100 stores.

In 2002, Starbucks owned and operated over 5,000 stores and by the end of 2007, the company owned and operated more than 14,000 stores (Starbucks, 2008).

Starbucks as a company has taken years to become this industrious. This is in part to the key management and staff members that are in place at each Starbucks coffee store all over the world. All Starbucks employees undergo extensive training to ensure the customer experience is exceptional. Starbucks has also invested time and money in all types of coffee machine technology to improve productivity and product quality, which has allowed them to continue doing extremely well as a company. Part of their success has been due to their capital investment in all types of machinery regarding coffee, not only to make coffee at their stores but also to produce the actual coffee...