About Me
.. width="425" height="350" .... width="425" height="350" ..Globalization
According to the company fact sheet, as of August 2006, Starbucks had 6,750 company-operated outlets worldwide: 5,393 of them in the United States and 1,357 in other countries and U.S. territories. In addition, the company has 5,034 joint-venture and licensed outlets, 2,952 of them in the United States and 2,082 in other countries and U.S. territories. This brings the total locations (as of September 1, 2006) to 11,784 worldwide. Stores are now found in Australia, Austria, Canada, Bahamas, Bahrain, Chile, China, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.Starbucks has come to be regarded by some, particularly in the anti-globalization movement, as symbolic of the problems posed by globalization. Several activism groups maintain websites criticizing the company's fair-trade policies, labor relations, and environmental impact, and hold it as a prime example of what they see as U.S. cultural and economic imperialism. Several Starbucks locations were vandalized during the WTO meeting held in Seattle in late 1999. Although no organization claimed responsibility for the vandalism, the anarchist circle-A sign was spraypainted on stores.[11] (see also WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 protest activity).Although it has endured much criticism for its purported monopoly on the global coffee-bean market, Starbucks only accounts for roughly two percent of global coffee production[3]. In 2000, the company introduced a line of fair trade products[12] and now offers three options for the socially conscious coffee drinker. According to Starbucks, they purchased 4.8 million pounds of Certified Fair Trade coffee in fiscal year 2004 and 11.5 million pounds in 2005. They have become the largest buyer of Certified Fair Trade coffee in North America (10% of the global market) and the only company licensed to sell Certified Fair Trade coffee in 23 countries.[13] Transfair USA,[14] the only third-party certifier of Fair Trade Certified coffee in the United States, has noted the impact Starbucks has made in the area of Fair Trade and coffee farmer's lives by saying:Since launching FTC coffee in 2000, Starbucks has undeniably made a significant contribution to family farmers through their rapidly growing FTC volumes. By offering FTC coffee in thousands of stores, Starbucks has also given the FTC label greater visibility, helping to raise consumer awareness in the process.FTC coffee now represents 3.7% of all Starbucks coffee, up from less than 1% when the company began to offer FTC. Starbucks, unlike many companies with whom we partner, makes FTC volume information public.[15]Groups such as Global Exchange are calling for Starbucks to further increase its sales of fair trade coffees. However, fair trade certification can cost $20 to $30 thousand, and many growers are unwilling or unable to pay for certification. As a result, the supply of fair trade coffee is increasing slowly, and Starbucks sometimes has difficulty finding fair trade growers that can meet its quality standards[citation needed].On 26 October 2006, Oxfam accused Starbucks of asking the National Coffee Association to block a trademark application from Ethiopia for two of the country's coffee beans, Sidamo and Harar. They claim this could result in denying Ethiopian coffee farmers potential annual earnings of up to £47m. Starbucks denied initiating opposition to the trademark application and stated the NCA had actually expressed concerns to Starbucks, and not the other way around. Starbucks also went on record saying they do not oppose the Ethiopian government's patent application and on October 25 sent a letter to the Ethiopian government offering to support and help them develop and implement a certification program[16]Robert Nelson, the head of the NCA, added that his organization initiated the opposition (and not Starbucks) for economic reasons, "For the U.S. industry to exist, we must have an economically stable coffee industry in the producing world...This particular scheme is going to hurt the Ethiopian coffee farmers economically." The NCA claims the Ethiopian government was being badly advised and this move could price them out of the market.[17][edit] Religious groups
In 2005, the company began to print quotations on its paper coffee cups. One of these drew criticism from fundamentalist Christian groups including Concerned Women for America who seek to "bring Biblical principles into all levels of public policy".[18] The controversial quote was:The Way I See It #43: My only regret about being gay was that I repressed it for so long. I surrendered my youth to the people that I feared when I could have been out there loving someone. Don't make that mistake yourself. Life's too damn short.Armistead Maupin, author of the Tales of the City series and the novel The Night Listener.
Although the other cups promoted a diverse range of ideas, mostly fundamentalist Christian critics singled out this quotation for allegedly promoting homosexuality. The Starbucks at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, removed cups featuring the Maupin quote after complaints from a staff member. Starbucks, however, has no plan to pull the cup from the program. Concerned Women for America have also objected to Starbucks including Planned Parenthood in their employee matching funds program.[19][edit] Trademark litigation
In 2000 San Francisco cartoonist Kieron Dwyer was sued by Starbucks for copyright and trademark infringement after creating a parody of its siren logo and putting it on coffee mugs, t-shirts and stickers that he sold on his website and at comic book conventions. Dwyer felt he was immune from such a lawsuit and his work was a parody and therefore protected by his right to free speech. The judge agreed that Dwyer's work was a parody and thus enjoyed constitutional protection, however he was forbidden from financially profiting from using a "confusingly similar" image of the Starbucks siren logo. Dwyer is currently allowed to display the image as an expression of free speech, but he can no longer sell it. [4]Starbucks also made headlines in Canada for its litigation against Haida Bucks[20], an indigenous-owned coffee house and store located in Masset, a small town on the remote island of Haida Gwaii. The case was dropped by Starbucks after the owners of Haida Bucks resisted Starbucks' attempt at litigation.[edit] Labor disputes
Some Starbucks baristas in Canada [21], Australia and New Zealand[22], and the United States[23] belong to several unions, including the UFCW[24], the CAW, the IWW and Unite Union. In August 2006, a store in Vancouver de-unionized as the partners unanimously voted on the subject.Since 2004, Starbucks employees at several locations in New York City and Chicago have joined the Industrial Workers of the World labor union, calling themselves the IWW Starbucks Workers Union. Starbucks does not recognize the union as a bargaining agent. Several employees have claimed they were retaliated against for union activity. On March 7, 2006, the Starbucks Workers Union and Starbucks agreed to a National Labor Relations Board settlement in which three Starbucks employees were granted almost $2,000 in back wages, two fired employees were offered reinstatement, and disciplinary warnings and negative performance reviews against several employees were removed from their records. The agreement did not require Starbucks to admit to violating the National Labor Relations Act.[25][26][27]
Starbucks in Tenmabashi Station, Osaka, JapanThe world's first Starbucks strike happened in Auckland, New Zealand on November 23, 2005[28]. Organised by Unite Union, it was the opening industrial action of the Supersizemypay.com campaign, which seeks secure hours, a minimum wage of NZ$12 an hour, and the abolition of youth rates. The strike involved several branches. The campaign continued until March 2006, when the company settled with the Union, resulting in pay increases, increased security of hours, and an improvement in youth rates.[29][edit] Product sabotage
Starbucks has also been accused of "product sabotage" by hiding its "short cappuccino" from its public menu. Short cappuccino is smaller (8 ounces), cheaper than their smallest size on the menu, the "tall". The short cappuccino has the same amount of espresso as the 12-ounce tall (1 oz.), which, according to several media accounts, leads to a bolder and better coffee taste.[30] [31] However, it should be noted that a Grande Cappuccino will have the same taste as a short cappuccino because it has the same ratio of espresso to steamed milk and foam. A short having one shot of espresso (1 oz.) is eight ounces in size, meaning 7 oz. of milk and foam. A grande cappuccino having two shots of espresso (2 oz) is sixteen ounces in size meaning 14 oz. of milk and foam, which has the same 1:7 ratio of espresso to milk and foam that a short cappuccino has.[edit] Monopolization lawsuit
A small Starbucks Cafe in Atlanta.On September 25, 2006, Starbucks was sued by Penny Stafford, owner of Belvi Coffee and Tea Exchange Inc., an independent coffee shop that went out of business due to what the plaintiff describes as Starbucks' "cluster bombing" store tactics; that is, opening numerous shops in a single area and buying out its nearby competitors. The suit also claims that Starbucks makes lease payments higher than fair market value to prevent competitors from leasing space in the same building. [5][edit] See also
Coffeehouse (wikipedia.org)
