Tag: sauces and food

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Starbucks imposes stricter dress code under green apron

AP News – Starbucks is imposing new limits on what its baristas can wear under their green aprons.

Starting May 12, employees will be required to wear a solid black shirt and khaki, black or blue denim bottoms. Shirts can be short- or long-sleeved and collared or collarless, the company said in a memo released Monday. Starbucks will give each employee two free T-shirts.

Starbucks said the new dress code will make its green aprons stand out and create a sense of familiarity for customers. It comes as the company is trying to reestablish a warmer, more welcoming experience in its store.

“By updating our dress code, we can deliver a more consistent coffeehouse experience that will also bring simpler and clearer guidance to our partners, which means they can focus on what matters most, crafting great beverages and fostering connections with customers,” the company said in a post on its website.

But some workers protested the move. Starbucks Workers United, a labor group that has unionized workers at more than 550 of Starbucks’ 10,000 company-owned U.S. stores, said it told the company last week that it has already negotiated a tentative dress code agreement during bargaining sessions with the company. The union said it opposes any changes to the dress code until bargaining concludes and a labor agreement is reached.

Jasmine Leli, a Starbucks barista and union bargaining delegate, said the company should be focusing on things that improve store operations, like appropriately staffing stores and giving workers a guaranteed number of hours.

“Instead of addressing the most pressing issues baristas have been raising for years, Starbucks is prioritizing a limiting dress code that won’t improve the company’s operation,” Leli said in a statement provided by the union. “They’re forcing baristas to pay for new clothes when we’re struggling as it is on Starbucks wages and without guaranteed hours.”

Starbucks Been There Series – Jamaica. Click to learn more.

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War and weather impact on coffee production

Every summer, the Sahara Dust drifts across Jamaica’s skyline, affecting this luxury coffee-growing island, already vulnerable to violent weather.

For locals, the sight of the dust reinforces that summer is here! Remember, all weather involves the transfer of heat. If desert dust is visible, what about the thousands of missiles fired in recent years across the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and parts of Africa?

One missile can destroy an entire apartment complex and some can destroy entire blocks. Could they be contributing to atmospheric heating? The heat and carbon emissions from these missile strikes might be making their way toward the Caribbean. While no scientific evidence supports this theory yet, it does raise interesting questions.

The Jamaican coffee industry is facing growing challenges due to increasingly unpredictable weather patterns, including heavier rainfall and prolonged droughts. Recently, the industry reported losses of US$3.5 million—over 15% of its annual crop. Experts point to intensified heat transfer in the atmosphere, potentially worsened by global conflicts, as a contributing factor. This is driving up global coffee prices, mirroring the impacts already felt in Jamaica’s Blue Mountain Coffee sector.

On Monday, Nasdaq reported that coffee commodity prices—both Arabica and Robusta—rose by 1.9% and 1.6%, respectively, for October 28. This rally is largely attributed to weather disruptions affecting major coffee-growing regions. Extreme conditions, such as excessive rain and prolonged droughts, are hampering harvests. Brazil, the world’s largest coffee producer, is grappling with inconsistent weather, driving prices higher. Similarly, reports from Colombia highlight concerns over unstable growing conditions.

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Port Strike Brewing Coffee Crisis

NEW YORK, Oct 1 (Reuters) – The unloading of hundreds of containers with imported coffee beans at the United States’ East Coast ports has stopped due to the strike of portworkers, aggravating the tight supply in the largest coffee-drinking nation.

The delays in delivery of imported coffee to U.S. roasters and coffee chains could further increase bean prices which hit multi-year highs last week due to limited supply, and raise costs for companies and consumers.

ship loading at Santos port in Sao Paulo, Brazil, seen from above

Prices for coffee held in U.S. warehouses are already rising due to the delays, said one coffee trader with containers stuck in ports.

“We have some 40 containers waiting to be moved,” said the head trader of one of the largest coffee importers in the U.S., which supplies roasters and cafeterias nationwide.

“The owners of the containers already told us they will charge additional fees if the boxes take longer than normal to be returned,” he added, asking not to be named because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the issue.

A portworkers strike entered its second day on Wednesday, halting the movement of containers through ports from Maine to Texas, affecting shipments of hundreds of products including food.

Some coffee sellers have stopped offering spot deals as they wait to see how the strike develops, said a second trader.

U.S. coffee stocks are at a low historical level, the traders said, since importers have been avoiding high inventories to reduce storage costs during a period of high interest rates. That situation makes the port problems worse.

“Some regions (in the U.S.) might have a supply squeeze,” said the first trader.

Industry participants believe, however, that the labor issue could be quickly solved because the magnitude of the problem demands attention.

“We source coffee from 35 different countries. If this (strike) goes on for a long time, everybody will be impacted,” said Will Ford, president of operations at Arkansas-based Westrock Coffee Company (WEST.O).

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Starbucks spends millions on music

Starbucks’ relationship with music has evolved significantly from its music beginnings in the 1990s, where jazz and blues dominated the ambiance of its stores, to an expansive multi-genre offering by 2024.

That said, where’s all the rap and hard rock?

Howard Schultz in Starbucks
Howard Schultz in Starbucks

Initially, the coffee chain’s music program was designed to complement the ‘experience of coffee’, creating a soothing and unique atmosphere in stores through jazz and blues compilations. Customers were drawn to these collections, which were available for purchase on CD, reflecting the physical distribution model of the time. This partnership between coffee and music was a natural extension of Starbucks’ mission to create not just a place to buy coffee but a community space for relaxation and cultural enrichment.

By 2024, Starbucks had expanded its music offering far beyond these original genres, embracing multiple streaming options through platforms like Spotify. A quick look at Starbucks’ official Spotify playlists shows a wide range of genres including indie, pop, classical, and world music, reflecting the diverse tastes of its global customer base. This shift from in-store CD sales to streaming platforms marked a dramatic transformation in how Starbucks distributed music, making it more accessible to a broader audience through a platform that many users engage with regularly.

Starbucks 1999 annual report page on music
Starbucks speaks about music on a page from the 1999 annual report

Despite the growth in genres, rap and modern rock are largely absent from Starbucks’ playlists. While hip-hop and R&B are represented, rap music’s heavier lyrical themes seem less aligned with the relaxed, welcoming atmosphere Starbucks aims to create in its stores. Similarly, contemporary rock, especially the more energetic or rebellious varieties, is also notably missing. Instead, Starbucks appears to favor genres that maintain a calm and approachable environment, aligning with its brand identity. The decision to omit these genres is likely strategic, focusing on maintaining a consistent in-store experience that appeals to a broad customer base while avoiding more polarizing musical styles.

As of today, Starbucks operates over 36,000 stores globally, with a significant proportion of these playing music throughout the day to enhance the customer experience. The cost of music in such a widespread setting is substantial. Businesses like Starbucks typically pay licensing fees to organizations such as ASCAP and BMI to legally play music in their stores. For a large corporation like Starbucks, these fees can range from $200 to $2,000 per store annually. Extrapolating from Starbucks’ global store count, the company could be paying upwards of $7 million to $72 million per year on music licensing alone, depending on the agreements and country-specific regulations. That’s our estimates based on known factors of fees and store count.

This transformation showcases Starbucks’ commitment to enhancing the customer experience and keeping pace with technological advancements, extending the reach of its curated musical experience well beyond its physical stores.

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