Not so starry-eyed...my rendezvous with Starbucks

On the lines of a true-blue aficionado of fine dining, wining, reading and shopping, I deem that a day of your existentiality (hangover effect of Meursault’s musings in Camus’ Stranger) is wasted, if you haven’t indulged in at least one of these pleasures. I landed up at the next location on my bucket-list - the much hyped (and yes, certainly overrated) Starbucks coffee house - to satiate my curious connoisseur pangs. Of course, my reviews are coloured not only from the single day’s experience, but also against the backdrop of my ostensible ‘association’ with Starbucks through newspapers and HBR case studies.

The backdrop: Hearsay, Howard and HBR

Looking at the American chapter, thus goes the 'Starbucks’ story'. Howard Schultz introduced and sold the concept of specialty coffee in the 80’s to the Americans, who were then used to the regular roaster. Initially positioned as a distinguished premium brand, offering specialty coffee to connoisseurs of the Italian brew, Starbucks ended up elevating the hoi polloi to the Starbucks ‘coffee experience’. The chain of stores thus proliferated in America in the ‘90s, with profits and revenues flying off the charts. Initially viewed as a premium coffee house brand, synonymous with upright product quality, excellent service and cozy ambience, Starbucks slowly became a commonplace joint – the 650% mushrooming growth coming at a price. The brand then led its name to packaged coffees, ice creams, jazz CDs, and extended its menu to non-coffee beverages and snack accompaniments. (Thankfully, it did not sell its name to toothpastes, once famously alluded to by Schultz!) It sold at airports, bookstores and supermarkets through mass distribution channels. Thus it broke the mould of a distinguished label and catered to serving the mass market.

Tete-a-tete with the Tatas:

Starbucks entered into Eurasian markets concurrently. The entry of Starbucks in Asia had been accompanied by huge noise, be it Tokyo in 1996 or Mumbai in 2012. The Asians allegedly suffer from the ‘liability of origin’ syndrome, as one of our candid professors had opined, which among other things, manifests into a vicarious pride as well as awestruck anxiety, on being wooed as a potential market by Western MNCs. Starbucks, in the same context, was envisioned as a status symbol; and the brouhaha surrounding its entry and JV with the giant Tatas, its posh SoBo (South Bombay, for the uninitiated) locations including its prospective vicinity in the Taj Hotel had only fueled the hype and hoopla in our eager minds. Avani Davda had also once stated in an interview that he wishes to exclude targeting the student population, so that Starbucks remains an ‘aspirational’ brand for them!

Encounter at last: Enter me!

I landed up at the Colaba coffee house on a Friday evening. The insides of the coffee house were not any less crowded or noisier than the bustling Colaba Causeway, where I had to bide some time as my company ended up getting delayed. Looking at the beeline of customers waiting in the single-floor crammed area, we ended up relocating to the Fort Starbucks.

The Fort Starbucks is a 2-storeyed coffee house, and we thankfully found a table on the first floor (rushing the occupant couple though :P) A female barista suggested Java chocolate-chip frappuccino, which was seconded by my company, who ended up going all the way to the ground floor to place the order, whereas I ended up ‘catching place’ at our table! He arrived with the Caramel & Java chip frappuccinos in about 20 minutes! So much so for an ambient atmosphere and excellent service!

Biased I may sound, but hunger is the best sauce! Though admittedly, the frappe was rich, creamy, awesome and filling. The same barista asked for feedback amidst the blaring music and swarming voices. We contemplated ordering accompaniments, but the waiting time and the teeming crowd was a huge turn off. The much tried-and-tested Marine Lines ended up being our much sought refuge!

My third, or technically the second, rendezvous with Starbucks was a week later on a Saturday evening when my roomie and I ended up at the Powai Starbucks. The lure of trying ‘The Starbucks’ was too elusive for her, to be weaned by my reviews. I realized that I too was in her shoes the week before! Starbucks, I realized, had ended up becoming a Salman Khan movie, which attracts starstruck one-time watchers, who end up with nothing but disillusionment once the movie has ended! Anyway, we ended up ordering hazelnut flavoured frappe and chicken croissant. The experience was almost the same. I was seated on the corner of a sofa, whereas my roomie perched on a chair – the only space we could locate in the crammed place. The door was not glazed, so the sunlight ruined the lighting ambience. The décor, paintings and furniture were ethnic and classy, but our peace was disturbed by the humming noises. Add to that, the barista at the counter used to yell each customer’s name when his or her order was ready! They could have well taken a leaf out of the neighbouring Dominoes, which discreetly displays order numbers without embarrassing its customers with mispronounced names! The overall experience, as expected, was a dud.

The frappe had cost about 160 bucks. We discussed on our way back, how Starbucks had miserably failed in creating the much fabled ‘coffee experience’ for its customers. Customers, including us, would have readily paid an even greater price premium for it– something that Davda had been recommended too, when he priced the plain latte at Rs. 85.

Today, Starbucks has burgeoned into 11 stores all over India and Davda plans to move into Tier-II cities too. Given this pace, a Starbucks carafe would soon move from the stores of Dolce Vita to your local kirana dukaan! Ironically, I recalled the interview in which he positioned Starbucks as an aspirational brand for young students. Seriously? Did he envisage that students who lap up Rs.99 happy meals could not afford a coffee for Rs.90! Or that the erstwhile argumentative Indian had not turned experimentatively indulgent! Had Starbucks accurately captured the psyche of its target customer and aligned its positioning with the already elevated expectations, the young urban hedonistic bourgeois would have surely poured their hearts into it! (sic)