CBS television news in America has had the chance to interview Howard Schulz, top man at Starbucks, this week – and the American reporters did not shirk from asking him a few awkward questions.
One, which many in and outside the coffee trade have asked, was: "Why do you have to have sizes like grande and venti? Why can't you say small, medium and large like normal people?"
Howard Schulz relpied that he had seen the words in Italy and that they seemed to make sense, adding: “people tell me there are over 70,000 different ways that our customers can, and do, order a Starbucks coffee."
A very practical question concerning current performance, and the closure of 600 under-performing cafes, was whether Starbucks had grown too big, too fast.
In hindsight, Schultz conceded, that was correct adding: “I don't think we had a business plan for the severity of what has taken place. History demonstrated to us that a downturn in the economy would not affect us, and in fact, that we would be recession-proof.”
Howard Schultz also said that he now regrets some of his past moves, such as turning to highly-automated espresso machines, and replacing couches with tables and chairs to accommodate more customers.
“Those changes should not have been made,” he said, adding that he made the changes because cafes could not cope with the number of customers, and that this had resulted in complaints about Starbucks’ speed of service.
He has, of course, already acknowledged that losing the theatre of manual espresso machines was mistake.
And yet, he told the American TV audience, even a recession brings opportunities.
“Great opportunities can be, and have been, created during tough economic times. And, this may sound a bit naïve but I got here, personally, by believing in big dreams.”
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By Ian Boughton
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