I haven’t ordered an espresso based drink at Starbucks in a long-time. I happen to be a fan of Clover Brewed Starbucks’ Reserve coffee. Actually, the $20,000 USD Clover machines and Reserve Coffees are two newish initiatives at Starbucks that have kept me as a customer. Without them, I would have ditched the mega-coffee chain a very long time ago.
In an effort the provide a consistent coffee creation to every customer, Starbucks has done what any corporate capitalist shareholder owned company would do. They streamlined and automated. They may value their employees (Partners) and offer great pay + healthcare even to part timers but they are still a money-making operation. Let’s review how Starbucks has automated their Barista:
- Clover: An Internet connected Vacuum Press machine that knows exactly the right temp, water levels and pressure for every Starbucks coffee bean. The barista turns a nob and presses a button. Presto! Coffee!
- Drip coffee at Starbucks with timers and temp controls. Baristas dump a pre-weighed bag of coffee into a machine and out comes coffee!
- Semi-Automated, push-button espresso machines. Load up 5 pounds of coffee beans in the top, press a button for espresso. Luckily, the frothing process is STILL done by hand.
- Frozen baked goods and breakfast sandwiches delivered in plastic and defrosted each morning
- Breakfast cooker toasters that flash toast sandwiches are also pre-programmed assumingly the same as Clover with an Ethernet cable connected to the machine to receive pre-sets for every sandwich that comes out.
- Timed blenders to make blended frozen drinks
- Finally, pre-made syrups, powders and flavorings direct from Starbucks corporate.
Drinks are “created” in-store but everything about those drinks is pre-packaged, pre-made and, for almost every thing, push-button. The only custom thing about Starbucks is the writing on your cup indicating what you ordered.
I was thinking the other day about the future of Starbucks. Why have baristas at all? Wouldn’t it be simpler to have million dollar automated installations where all of the same ingredients are behind a wall stocked by one person and you order what you want and out pops a cup? It really is the only thing separating Starbucks from coffee vending machines at hospitals. A person taking your order and writing your name on a cup is the only thing different from vending machines. Now, Starbucks is always creating new fun drinks ideas, the reserve series of beans is putting out coffees nearly comparable to those from smaller roasters and all stores have Pour-over and some have clover machines which are automated but provide a far superior cup of coffee than the drip systems Starbucks uses.
On one hand, Starbucks is delivering enough to keep people coming back. They are also making strides each year to make baristas useless. I found this blog post in 2007 worth a read:
Suddenly I felt so cheated. Now ANYBODY can be a barista. Just press one button and you get instant coffee. No more grinding or pressing. I can be a barista too, just give me 30 minutes training and I’ll be brewing perfect coffee for everyone.
How long before Starbucks is just a wall of LED panels and auto-coffee creations? They’re not too far from this.