Quality the essence of coffee chain

By KARYN SCHERER

Some of Auckland's top cafes have been given a roasting from the head of the world's biggest coffee chain.

Starbucks' Seattle-based president, Orin Smith, this week took time to sample several of the city's better coffee shops.

His verdict? While he was happy to concede that some of the cafes he visited were "done pretty well," others, he suggested, could do a lot better.

"Some of the coffee I've had hasn't been good quality - it's green and a little bitter."

After 10 years with Starbucks, Mr Smith insists he knows what he is talking about.

In one cafe, he noted, the beans were being kept in a ceramic dish on top of a warmer - "that's one of the worst things you can do to coffee."

For some coffee purists, such criticism will seem a little rich.

Although Starbucks is keen to be seen as the world's best - as well as the biggest - coffee retailer, it has not always been welcomed in new markets.

As Mr Smith sees it, it is simply snobbery.

"Because we have a lot of units, people associate that sometimes with mediocrity," he shrugged.

"I think the other reason is that there are people for whom something that can be enjoyed by everyone is not something they will condescend to enjoy."

While he acknowledged all companies occasionally struck teething problems when moving into new markets, he insisted the Starbucks coffee he had tried in New Zealand had been as good as anywhere in the United States.

The company uses a mystery shopper programme to monitor quality, and according to Mr Smith, it has strict standards it tries hard to maintain.

"This is a critical issue for us. And right now, I feel very good about that.

"I've tried coffee here and I haven't been able to distinguish it from any store in North America," he said.

The juggernaut hit New Zealand 18 months ago, after striking a deal with local partner Restaurant Brands, which also runs Pizza Hut and KFC in this country.

There are now 10 stores across the North Island, with another 10 due to open over the next year.

Mr Smith is the first to admit that the plan is part of a global strategy to take over the world and the company must be doing something right.

When he joined Starbucks, it had just 45 outlets. It now has more than 2700 outlets across Asia, North America, Britain and the Pacific Rim.

Mr Smith said Japan had been "unbelievable" and was likely to become Starbucks' second-largest market once it opened more stores there.

The company is also jumping on the internet bandwagon.

Just last week, it announced a deal with online delivery company Kosmo.com which will allow cross-marketing opportunities for both companies.

He said Kosmo.com was one of "literally hundreds" of dot com companies that had approached Starbucks.

"This will probably not be the only one we do, although I doubt there will be more than three. I don't want to clutter my stores with other brands."

The chain's popularity is even more remarkable given that it does not advertise.

According to Mr Smith, it did not pay a cent for prominent plugs in two popular movies, You've Got Mail and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.

"Most companies spend a million dollars to get their automobiles in 'James Bond' or whatever, but we get it for free," he grinned.

The company is due to open its first Australian outlet next month. After several unsuccessful attempts to strike a deal with an Australian partner, it has finally reached agreement with a former McDonald's franchisee, Markus Hofer.

Mr Smith is used to Starbucks being compared with the golden arches, particularly in this part of the world where McDonald's has experimented with its own McCafe outlets.

In Australia, McDonald's has gone one step further with stand-alone coffee kiosks called "Serious About Coffee," but Mr Smith made it clear he did not regard the fast-food chain as a serious competitor.

He said Starbucks had turned down approaches from McDonald's to do a potentially lucrative coffee deal.

"Having said that, I have a great deal of respect for that company and the way they've built that brand.

"They've got an unbelievable story, but it's not a story I want to recreate. I don't want to co-locate with McDonald's and I don't want them to sell my coffee.

"Apart from ubiquity, there isn't anything about McDonald's that I try to emulate."