Caffeinated Blog

Starbucks Lingo Simplified

I recently went to the Starbucks' drive-thru and ordered Grande Soy Hazelnut No Foam Latte and my inquisitive daughter in the back seat said, "Mommy, are you speaking a different language??"

If you're dying to try a drink at Starbucks, but afraid to go because you don't speak the lingo, fear no longer as Quicksilverweb has created a webpage with the Starbucks Drinks Language Simplified.
Using the charts provided, put together your concoction of choice and go into Starbucks prepared and confident!

Oh yeah, and enjoy your Double Tall Half Caf Extra Hot Nonfat White Mocha!

How Many Calories in Starbucks Marble Mocha Macchiato?

                                                      

                                              

Well, since the launch of Starbucks' new drink the Marble Mocha Macchiato your waistline might have grown a bit. At this point, you're probably wondering just how many calories are in this sinful concoction? 

Starbucks has a nice calorie calculator where you can enter in your preference such as whole milk, nonfat milk, soy milk, etc.  A Marble Mocha Macchiato made with whole milk has the following calories: 

Tall 290 Calories
Grande 410 Calories
Venti 520 Calories

via Starbucks.com

Coffee Fest Trade Show Begins in Washington

The Washington Convention Center is host to the Coffee Fest Trade Show,  beginning today and running through the weekend.  Coffee lovers from all over gather together to take in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Barista Competition, 65 + classes and 175 booths .

Brian Rice, a barista or preparer of coffee, says, "Coffee is also about more than a Starbucks on every corner. It's about the culture and "geeking out" over all things coffee. Many people that are regulars in coffeehouses have "created relationships with their baristas just like they have with a bartender or a favorite chef,".

via dcexaminer

Starbucks Launches New Cupcakes Originals

                                                    

Just like Mom used to make, Starbucks has launched two varieties of their new Cupcake Originals.  The Vanilla Sunshine cupcake is a moist vanilla cake with creamy white frosting coated with nonperils and a candy flower.  The Chocolate Cupcake is a succulent chocolate cake covered in thick, rich chocolatey frosting and decorative chocolate curls.

This new offering from Starbucks tastes great with a good cup of Verona.  Your kids will fall in love with these as well, mine did!

Starbucks a Constant in Daily Life

A columnist intrigued by the appeal of Starbucks has a good article about his love for the coffee giant:

    More impressively, the company has succeeded in creating a hospitable ''third place" in American life -- the phrase is from founder Howard Schultz's ghost-written autobiography -- that is neither home nor the office. North Shore shift supervisor Eric Hillegas has worked at several Starbucks locations, including one near a university. ''It was sort of a second library for the students, and for some of the professors it was like stepping off the plane into the clubhouse. Where I work now, mothers come in with small children, and for them it's a time to gather together and be social without having to plan for it."

While pushing caffeine, Hillegas has also been studying for the ministry. He is probably one of the few managers who invokes the work of Polish sociologist Zygmunt Bauman to explain Starbucks' allure. Bauman, author of ''Liquid Life," has remarked that ''the old, hallowed distinction between working time and leisure time has been all but obliterated today." ''In a world where patterns are constantly shifting, Starbucks can be one of the constants in people's daily life," Hillegas says. (You can hear an interview with Bauman at marshillaudio.org/resources/mp3/MHAJ-48-Bauman.mp3.)

via Boston.com

Howard Schultz' Passion for Starbucks

Have a good read about 'The Passion of Howard Schultz' from a former Starbucks employee and then download the archived webcast of Schultz' opening comments at the recent Starbucks Annual Shareholder’s Meeting in Seattle.

Kellogg's Granola Is On Par With Folger's Canned Coffee

Brand Autopsy has an interesting take on Starbucks test market venture with Kelogg's, called Grani, which is essentially granola and steamed milk. 

He attacks Starbucks' choosing to partner "with a major consumer packaged goods company to serve as its granola supplier."

He takes it one step further with,  "In fact, the coffee equivalent of Kellogg’s Low-Fat Granola would be canned Folger’s coffee."

An interesting read from a former Starbucks employee.

Starbucks Launches California Giving Program Grants for Non-Profits

Starbucks Coffee Company has announced the launch of the California Giving Program, Starbucks' new statewide giving initiative. The program will award grants totaling up to $1 million to local non-profit organizations and charitable agencies throughout the state of California.  The program's primary focus is to fund non-profits that allow children the opportunity to grow and flourish.   

"Giving back to the community has always been a huge focus for Starbucks and each year we strive to create new ways to become more involved in the neighborhoods where we do business," said Howard Schultz, Starbucks chairman. "With the launch of the California Giving Program, Starbucks has the opportunity to partner with some of the most amazing non-profit organizations in all of California that work to build stronger communities by nurturing kids and inspiring grownups."

via home.businesswire.com

Starbucks Leprechaun Latte Brings Luck to Schoolchildren

The much anticipated annual return of the legendary Starbucks Leprechaun Latte has customers flocking to New England stores. Starbucks will donate 25 cents from every Leprechaun Latte sold to Jumpstart, thereby spreading a little luck 'o the Irish to schoolchildren. Jumpstart is a national children-focused literacy organization based in Boston, MA.

The Leprechaun Latte is a heart warming peppermint mocha flavored beverage topped with green whipped cream.  It is available in Starbucks' New England stores from now through March 17. 

"The importance of literacy is a fundamental belief shared within the Starbucks organization," said Starbucks New England spokesperson, Jennifer Guebert. "We are excited to partner with Jumpstart and share in their passion for teaching and inspiring children to read."

"We are excited to continue partnering with Starbucks to bring high quality learning experiences to preschool children throughout New England,"said Rob Waldron, CEO of Jumpstart. "For 5 years, Starbucks has been a partner in our mission to work toward the day every child in America enters school to succeed, a partner in our efforts to educate our communities about the value of investing in early literacy, and a partner in our belief that every child deserves a chance for success."
 
Last year raised $13,000 for Jumpstart through the sales of 53,000 Leprechaun Lattes.

via prnewswire

Starbucks Releases Marble Mocha Macchiato

Starbucks has released today a new indulgent chocolate drink, the Marble Mocha Macchiato.  In an apparent effort to replace Chantico with a drink customers can customize, the Marble Mocha Macchiato is a wonderfully sweet drink similar to a White Mocha, but prepared with a mocha drizzle like the Caramel Macchiato. 

Starbucks says, "Marble Mocha Macchiato is the perfect combination of our two most popular beverages — Caffe Mocha & White Chocolate Mocha — with a bold espresso flavor."

Try it and leave us a comment!

"Blueprint to a Billion"

David Thomson a business growth specialist, has written a book closely examining companies such as Starbucks and how they reached the billion dollar mark in revenue. Thomson dubs these companies the ''Blueprint Companies."

The book is titled "Blueprint to a Billion".

Thomson is a former employee of Nortel Networks and Hewlett-Packard.  In his book, he illustrates how companies that have now become household names reached their status.  He examines business growth strategies of eBay, Google, and Microsoft as well. 

 

Starbucks Stock Soars, Schultz Calls it "the Starbucks effect."

At a recent Starbucks shareholders meeting, Chairman Howard Schultz received many rounds of applause as he boasted that the company's stock had soared to an all-time high on strong earnings the week prior.

The stock opened at $34.84 on Thursday, then rose as high as $35.33 in early trading.

Schultz noted in a slide show that since the company went public in 1992, share value had risen 6,400 percent - enough to turn a $10,000 investment into roughly $650,000.

Starbucks has plans to open 1,800 stores worldwide by October, and Chief Executive Jim Donald said the company thinks it will one day be able to open stores even more rapidly.

He noted that Starbucks nearly doubles its sales every few years, and got some laughs when he said an average newborn baby growing that fast would be 50 feet tall by age 9.

Starbucks maintained its estimates of eventually opening at least 30,000 stores worldwide, with half being in foreign countries.

Schultz said the company was entering a new stage, focusing on what he called "the Starbucks effect," which involves increasing its focus on selling music, striking movie marketing partnerships and offering new ways for consumers to enjoy the Starbucks brand.

Schultz said the company is exploring ways to deliver online content by expanding its wireless Internet access partnership with T-Mobile.

"One of the compelling questions that's being asked by our customers on a continuous basis is, 'When are we going to be able to digitally fill up music at Starbucks?' The WiFi asset that we have ... gives us a very, very unique proprietary competitive advantage of when we will do this. And the question is not if but when."

via nwcn.com
 

Starbucks Scraps Chantico

Starbucks announced today that they will eliminate Chantico from their offerings, citing that the drink did not give customers the options they are accustomed to when ordering at Starbucks. 

Starbucks rarely misses these days, but the "drinkable dessert," Chantico available only in a 6oz size limited customers from dictating decaf or regular, whip or no whip, grande or venti, etc.

"It was something that customers did like, but they wanted to be able to do something else with it," Hilowitz said. "We wanted to go back and give customers what they are looking for."

via Yahoo News

Starbucks to Enter Borders Bookstores

Borders Books & Music struck a deal with Coffee Partners Hawaii to put Starbucks in six of its book stores.

"We look forward to offering the Starbucks experience to Borders customers through this new relationship," said Greg Meier, president of Coffee Partners Hawaii. "The new Borders locations will be a great addition to creating the 'third place' experience."

Starbucks franschiser Coffee Partners Hawaii entered the Hawaii market in 1996.  They have opened 54 Starbucks Coffee stores throughout four islands thus creating over 1,100 jobs in the state of Hawaii. 

via Bizjournals

Starbucks Introduces Iced Coffee

Starbucks Coffee has announced plans to introduce an iced coffee product at its retail stores in March.

The company also plans to make a ready-to-drink beverage, Starbucks Iced Coffee, available in grocery and convenience stores in May. The beverage will consist of their Italian Roast coffee and milk. The product is the result of a joint venture with Pepsi-Cola.

Also through the partnership with Pepsi will be the introduction of Starbucks DoubleShot Light espresso blend.  Look for it in grocery stores this May. 

Consumers can also look forward to the launch of the bottled Starbucks Strawberries and Creme Frappuccino drink, which will be available at Starbucks retail stores in March and in grocery chains in May.

via Bizjournal

Starbucks Japan Profit Up 30 Percent

Starbucks Coffee Japan reported a 30 percent rise in its nine-month net profit thanks to strong sales of high margin products, consequently raising its full-year outlook by 14 percent.

Starbucks Japan stores exceeded last year's levels for each of the past six months duebto strong sales of seasonal drinks and food products such as hot sandwiches.

More

Starbucks' Untapped Markets

Starbucks may soon have a place in libraries.  Apparently several public libraries are experimenting with the idea of mixing caffeine and books, much like Barnes and Noble has.

"Libraries are still experimenting to see what works, and it varies enormously from community to community.  A lot of libraries have tried them. Not all have been successful."

I believe there is an untapped market that exists for Starbucks within churches, libraries and ice rinks.  I predict that in the near future, Starbucks will enter into these venues with great success.

Our local ice rink has just recently begun brewing Starbucks coffee, a move that has been long anticipated by sleepy eyed hockey parents at 6am games on Saturday mornings. Mega churches have also begun to venture into serving Starbucks coffee.

Tea Houses with Starbucks' Four Bucks Idea Popular in China

The simple idea of people actually paying 4 bucks for a cup of coffee has obviously been a very lucrative marketing tactic for Starbucks.  In China, Wufu Tea Houses take on a similar idea and popularity.  It wasn't always that way...

“They thought to price a cup of tea at 50 yuan (about Rs 300) was ridiculous.”, chief executive of Wufu, Tan Bo said.

Wufu has 12 outlets in Beijing and plans to open two more in 2006. In Beijing alone, the number of tea houses has risen from 460 in 2003 to 570 in 2004.

As Starbucks has catered to the upper middle class, tea is becoming increasingly popular for middle-class homes and for conferencing and catering services in China as well, as China Daily reported.

“We are targeting the higher-income earners,” Tan said. “They are mostly above 30 with monthly income of more than 5,000 yuan (Rs 30,000).”

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Starbucks "Market Outperform" Rating

Analyst Kristine Koerber of JMP Securities upholds her "market outperform" rating on Starbucks Corp. (SBUX.NAS), while raising her estimates to the target price of $36.

In a research note, the analyst mentions that the company has posted impressive F1Q06 results, with the EPS ahead of the estimates. Starbucks posted strong comp store sales growth of 7% driven by impressive customer traffic.  The company has raised its EPS guidance for FY06 from $0.63-$0.65 to $0.68-$0.70. The EPS estimates for FY06 and FY07 have been raised $0.65 to $0.70 and from $0.80 to $0.85, respectively.

via Newratings.com

Starbucks Holiday Drink Sales Boost Earnings

Starbucks Corporation shares closed higher than ever Thursday, after the world's largest specialty coffee retailer reported strong quarterly earnings on sales of its winter holiday drinks Wednesday.

Starbucks shares rose $3.04, or 9.7 percent, to close at $34.40 Thursday on the Nasdaq.

The Seattle retailer said strong sales on holiday drinks such as peppermint mochas and gingerbread lattes helped push earnings up 20 percent for the quarter. 

Starbucks First-Quarter Earnings Jump 20 Percent to $174 Million

Starbucks Corp. said Wednesday that its first fiscal quarter earnings rose 20 percent over last year.

For the 13 weeks ended Jan. 1, Starbucks said it earned $174 million, or 22 cents per share, up from $145 million, or 17 cents per share, in the comparable period a year earlier.

Starbucks boosted its earnings targets for the year.  Earnings are expected to rise 68 to 70 cents a share.

Mike Koskuba, an analyst with New York-based Victory NewBridge Capital Management, called Starbucks "a great global brand" and said the company appears to be expanding at a prudent pace, especially overseas.

"It's always surprising to us that Starbucks could find success in Paris, but it has," Koskuba said.

"We have never been more enthused or confident about the way in which we have been received and the ongoing profitability of the international business," Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz said in a conference call with financial analysts.

As of Jan. 1, Starbucks had 7,661 stores in the United States and 3,140 international stores.