Coffee Analysis : Coffee House Ethnography

In our society, we can see many different kinds of social setting and one of the most common settings is coffee shop. Indeed, there is at least one coffee shop on each block. According to Coffee Association of Canada, the market size of coffee industry in Canada is more than 6.2 billion dollars. It shows that how big and important this social setting is. Among a lot of coffee shops, Starbucks, Tim Horton, and Second Cup are the biggest and the most popular franchisers in Canada. If the purpose of visiting coffee shop is only for coffee itself, they might have not been grown like these days.

After purchasing a drink I settled down to the left of the shop just by the window from this location, I observed several rituals through watching interactions and general behavior. My vantage point of view proved useful in the first trip so it was used for observation in subsequent visits as well. I also obtained information by interviewing an informant. The informant is an employee at the coffee shop: a barista who works mainly in the morning shift. The barista has been an employee at this particular Starbucks for three months. According to the informant, having been on duty during the early morning rush has provided sufficient material, which they have used to observe customer behavior, maybe for business strategy.

Most of the groupings were either just singular people or couples coming to pick up either a plain coffee or most of the females ordering some mixed espresso or something to that degree. There were a couple of oddities in the data such as a one older couple that came by and also one black male also stopped by to pick up some coffee.

I chose to do the Starbucks Ethnography over all of the other options because Starbucks currently plays a large role in the social behaviors of today’s society. It has grown significantly from when it was first founded and is currently dominating the coffee market worldwide. Starbucks has become a social and cultural phenomenon because, “...it is at once a globalized consumer institution and a local place in which the mundane daily activities of sipping coffee, writing in journals, and conversing with friends are practiced” (Dickinson 7). Since I am in the age group that Starbucks is particularly trendy with (young adults), I already have some expectations for what the results of the ethnography will be. I have also lived in Orange County for my entire life, so I had some context as to which race would be more prevalent to the Starbucks I had gone to. I wish to explore the symbolic anthropology, which, “...focuses on understanding cultures by discovering and analyzing the symbols that are most important to their members” (Nanda 35). Understanding the symbolism behind coffee and Starbucks is important since it has multiple meanings and has become deeply ingrained within our culture.

For this project, I have decided to open a coffee shop that serves regular and specialty coffee, and small pastry items that is located in a prominent neighborhood near a train station or a high foot traffic area. Coffee has become a popular beverage where it is not just needed in the mornings but throughout the day, whether they are on their way to work or just to sit and relax. I am a coffee drinker myself and it is uncommon to find a coffee place that has a warm, home feeling atmosphere. It is important to have one of these types of coffee shop in any neighborhood. My goal is to provide every customer coffee and pastry whether

I gathered my information from Dunkin’ Donuts shop on the Third Avenue. Dunkin’ Donuts is one of the largest coffee shop chains in the world. I chose this because it is close to our house. When I first walked into the shop, I heard Chainsmokers’ Closer song. It was also a quiet place sometimes where you could just sit and relax. It is a small place with limited seats. There were only three small tables and a long table. The place is air-conditioned, so it is cold. There is also free Wi-Fi, so the customers will not get bored while they are waiting in line or drinking their coffee. There is also a Baskin-Robbins inside the store, so it is not only a coffee shop but also an ice cream shop. I wanted to interview one of the staff, but they were busy. I ended up interviewing an old woman because she was sitting with me since there were limited seats. She is 71 years old and originally from Mexico. She was 23 years old when she moved here. She is married to a Mexican too and they had three children.

Bloomington is a traditional Democratic college town. The city limits are filled with farming cooperatives, community bike shops, farmers markets, and non-franchised coffee shops. It’s shops like these that help define Bloomington from any other city in America. But what do these coffee shops mean in other parts of the United States? Within the past few years, cities have been classified as “hip:” fun cities for the average twenty-something. Some hipster cities are San Francisco, California; Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; Burlington, Vermont; and Bloomington, Indiana. These cities have numerous similarities with one resounding smell: coffee.

Coffee Oasis can take to help that youth. We also have Case Managers who work with the youths by assisting them in areas of their lives that needs to be addressed or improved. The other volunteering I do is with HOPE Inc. This program deals with the job and internship aspect of Coffee Oasis. I teach classes on effective communication, leadership, resumes cover letters, career goals, and job searches. HOPE Inc. also partners with local businesses for job internships, and ninety-percent of the youths who finished the internship were employed within six months of finishing the internship. Volunteering for Coffee Oasis, Habitat for Humanity, Bremerton Rescue Mission, Children of the Nations and others is my way of positively impacting the lives

For my ethnography report, I chose to study Starbucks located inside the NJIT campus center in Newark, New Jersey. The purpose of this study was to identify the behaviors and possible needs of the people in the area that enter this establishment, and possibly all coffee shops located inside a school campus. I started my ethnography research at 1:45 Pm and ended at 3:45, it was slightly snowing which is a variable that I took into consideration. During the two hours that I spend at the coffee shop only 4 people walked in which I found unusual because people tent to grab a cup of coffee whenever the weather is unpleasant.

How can the Starbucks operations be consistent with so many variations? My observation will evaluate the Starbucks' processing time. The objective problem statement is "It takes too long to get a flavored cup of Latte from Starbucks."

Though coffee houses throughout Europe have a self-explanatory function of meeting point, discussion area and recreational facility, this concept has only recently been explored in North America, and is gaining in popularity and social recognition as we speak, and is only expected to increase over the course of the next few years.

The demand for coffee shops is born from the increased number of individuals seeking coffee brewed outside of the home. This creates a larger market for coffee shops. An increased amount of people are starting their mornings off by purchasing breakfast and a cup of coffee away from home (Tuttle 2014), more people are enjoying gourmet coffee (NCA National Coffee Drinking Trends 2015 Infographic), and younger generations are demanding more coffee and coffee drinks from coffee shops (Tuttle 2014, S&D Coffee and Tea inc. 2014, Statista 2015). Coffee shops must compete with at home coffee, work place coffee, and teas for the caffeinated beverage markets (LN 2015). Demand for coffee within different markets varies, and provides competition for coffee shops. Single cup coffee makers, increasingly qualitative instant coffees, and gourmet beans are all sources of competition that could satisfy the demand for coffee. However, coffee shops are becoming more ingrained in social

Coffee is a widely consumed non-alcoholic beverage prepared from the roasted seeds commonly called the beans of the coffee plant (Rojo, 2012). The love for caffeine is the reason why people are attracted to café houses and this is precisely, why coffee is such a booming and huge business today. In practically all civilized places today, a cup of piping hot coffee is always close by and especially in urban environments; it is difficult to walk even for five minutes without encountering a vendor. A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment which primarily serves hot coffee, related coffee beverages (e.g., café latte, cappuccino, espresso, tea, and other hot beverages). Many cafés also serve some type of food, such as light snacks, muffins, or pastries. Coffeehouses range from owner-operated small businesses to large multinational corporations. From a cultural standpoint, coffeehouses largely serve as centers of social interaction: the coffeehouse provides patrons with a place to congregate, talk, read, write, entertain one another, or pass the time, whether individually or in small groups. Since the development of Wi-Fi, coffeehouses with this capability have also become places for patrons to access the Internet on their laptops, tablet computers or mobile phones (Duncan, 2016).

I like Starbuck’s menu, and particularly hot White Chocolate Mocha, skim milk with no whip cream. For the purpose of this assignment, I decided to sit in one of Starbuck’s stores located in Virginia and observe its environment. This Starbucks store is located inside the Tysons mall. I have been to this particular store before, but this time it was very surprisingly different in many ways. I did not have anything specific to monitor when I first entered the place. I sat on the Café bar so I can view the three seating sections at the place. There were 5 employees in the store with two standing at the cashier, one taking pre-orders, and two others making the orders. I took a book with me to infer that I am a student, while

Location: This coffee shop occupies a small corner of a building, the rest of which is occupied by an American Legion Post. Inside, there is a rather small “L” shaped seating area that is cozy without being cramped. There is a lockable door separating the shop from the Legion hall itself. It is second-floor in relation to ground level with open space beneath. There is a wooden deck even