Beans to a Cup: The Commodity Chain of a Cup of Coffee

Recently people have become more and more conscious of what they put into their bodies and where it comes from. An unprecedented amount of information is now readily available to most Americans with the advent of the Internet. This has resulted in a great increase in transparency of the many aspects of imported products. Consequently, programs have been established to help ensure that these products are produced in more ethical and humane ways. To many Americans, the Fair Trade labeled bags of coffee they purchase that give them the energy they need to go about their day in addition to being a socially conscious decision but to many it is a means for survival and an escape from a cycle of debt that traps many similar non-Fair Trade growers generation after generation

Costa Rica now provided raw material for Starbucks which accounted for about 15 percent of the total coffee beans Starbucks needed every year. Costa Rica as one of the raw material suppliers plays an important role in global value chain. Coffee has played a pivotal role in the development of Costa Rica. It has shaped social, cultural and political institutions and is still one of country’s major agricultural exports. (Anywhere, 2016) The global value chain in this coffee industry can be described that Starbucks, the centre in this coffee global value chain, purchasing raw materials (coffee beans) from coffee farms in Costa Rica, reprocessing and reproducing in retail shops, selling the finished products (various kinds of coffee) to customers in the world.

Hi Jill, I used Starbucks as one of the companies I wrote about in this week's written assignment. While it's nice to treat myself to go out and get coffee sometimes, I barely ever do because, aside from the price, I hate the waste that these places produce. Think about how many people Starbucks serves a day worldwide, and the majority of those cups are going to be thrown away. Now, they do have reusable cups that you can bring in to be filled, but many people, myself included, don't remember to do that. Or it's such a spontaneous trip to the coffee shop, that you can't always think ahead to have your reusable cup with you. So it was nice to read about how Starbucks is making their cups out of materials that are certified recyclable material in most

insights which have been neglected by the later literature of new growth theory and new trade

In addition, the recycling paper cups should be more regulated on recycling contracts that largest coffee companies like Starbucks and Tim Hortons make with private facilities to handle the cups. “Unfortunately today, in most places, hot beverage cups like coffee, tea, hot chocolate cups, do end

Since the number of paper cups that Starbucks goes through on an annual basis is in the billions, a reduction of these cups would have a great positive impact on the environment. Walk into any Starbucks store and a wide variety of reusable cups are available for sale. They vary in size, shape, price, and design, but all encourage the same thing – recycling. Starbucks even offers a discount of ten cents when a customer brings in their own cup, which they display in print on their menu reader board. In early 2013, a Whittier Daily News article announced the roll out of a new Starbucks reusable plastic cup priced at only a dollar. Starbucks is trying to reduce the amount of paper cups that end up in a landfill every year. The plastic reusable cup can withstand about thirty washings in the dishwasher and then once it’s no longer usable, the cup can be recycled, as well. Starbucks kept the cup the traditional white and green themed design to emulate their standard cup, attempting to reinforce customer’s continued loyalty to the brand (Scauzillo, 2013). Currently, Starbucks is offering a white and red holiday themed plastic reusable cup for $2.00.

The original idea for the Starbucks format came from the 1980´s when the company´s director if marketing, Howard Schultz, came back from a trip to Italy enchanted with the Italian coffeehouse experience, the idea was to sell the company´s own premium roasted coffee and freshly brewed espresso-style coffee beverages, along with a variety of pastries, coffee accessories, teas, and other products in a tastefully designed coffeehouse setting. The focus was to sell a “third place experience”.

In the United States, there are over 24,000 coffee shops that are determined to provide a coffee experience that keeps customers coming back for more (Espresso Business Solutions, 2015.) With this growing statistic in mind, one can witness the need for coffee products to reach their destination and be served to these business’s loyal customers. In this paper we have conducted greater research on the coffee supply chain network. We will discuss the risks and the best practices that will offset these risks; conduct a financial analysis of Starbucks; evaluate a specific evaluation of Brazil and transportation followed by an evaluation of performance improvements of the coffee supply chain.

Howard Schultz didn’t just build a company, he built an empire. Starbucks’ Coffee is a benchmark in the coffee trade, for coffee drinkers and, even non-coffee drinkers. He nursed a small company in the big city of Seattle, to a global

In general the coffeehouse industry in the United States was experiencing an increase in coffee consumption per capita due to the “Starbucks effect”. At this time Starbucks was operating approximately 20,000 stores in the United States and was living a fast expansion strategy worldwide.

Prices of the company's products are competitive. Regarding the place, most of the sales come from both the Spokane and Northern Idaho market, owing to the company's prime location in the Spokane Valley within the Spokane Industrial Business Park, Washington. Finally, promotion at the Coffee Warehouse is always creative. In addition to personal selling, monthly newsletter, and sending news releases to local media, press, and trade magazines, the company always comes up with exclusive marketing ideas when they need to brand their products, for example, the aforementioned showroom and trade

Starbucks inbound logistics comprises of the firm’s quality control specialist in selecting top-quality Arabia coffee beans from suppliers that maintain a sustainable approach. Starbucks supports ethical sourcing by operating “responsible purchasing practices, farmer support…” (Starbucks, 2016) also corporate social responsibility (CSR). Additionally, their tactic is utilizing the “Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E.) Practices” (Starbucks, 2016), wherein this approach is the first set of sustainability benchmarks in the coffee industry and is certified by third-party logistics professionals. The C.A.F.E. Practices has assisted Starbucks in relation to generating a “long-term supply of high-quality coffee” (Starbucks, 2016) and influencing the lives of the farmers and their communities. Furthermore, Starbucks utilizes economies of scales in their inbound logistics activities by developing outstanding supply chain procedures by using C.A.F.E. and also includes collaborating internationally with managers discussing strategic alliances through suppliers for their products. Starbucks have recently

The CEO (Chief Executive Officer), Howard Schultz pointed that the main reason from the decline of “Starbucks Experience” was that the number of Starbucks shops increased sharply from only 1,000 to 13,000 within ten years. Other people considered their brand has been commercialized, and the customers hadn’t had enough enthusiasms to appreciate every moment of their coffee any longer. He suggested that Starbucks should re-find its origin. Nevertheless, his advice apparently was opposite to the

To support this statement, I would like to present Starbucks ' supply chain reorganization started in late 2008. The initials first step was to simplify a complex structure in four essential supply chain functions. Every supply chain job fell in plan, source, make, and deliver. If someone involved in production planning or replenishment or new product, was part of the planning department. Sourcing functions split between coffee and "non-coffee" procurement. At that time Starbucks spent in the average US $600 million on coffee a year and total US

The question is what exactly goes into the process from cocoa beans in a field to a steaming cup of delicious coffee. Starbucks has created an amazing strategy of Supply Chain Management that spans across almost nineteen countries, that means cocoa beans can come from one country while milk could come from an entirely different nation hundreds of miles away. Through this global resource span Starbucks can expand the company and reach more countries than ever before. Starbucks also makes sure that they supply the best ingredients to their coffee drinkers for a lower price. All raw materials are sent to roasting manufacturing and packaging plants. Starbucks itself has six roasting manufactories, which seems very few for such a big company, but they are using a very effective centralized system.