I hear this more and more these days, “Starbucks is the Mcdonalds of coffee.” I think this comparison is just another way of people saying, “Starbucks is no longer a company primarily focused on quality coffee. (If at all…)” I attribute this comparison, by people, to many of the decisions that Starbucks has made over the past couple years. In this article I am going to unpack some of the reasons people have starting comparing Starbucks to Mcdonalds.
Reason #1: Breakfast Sandwiches
This reason really speaks for itself. When you think of a quick fast breakfast sandwich Mcdonalds is the first place most people will think of, so it’s only natural that when Starbucks starting carrying them people would start to make the comparison between the two companies.
Reason #2: Starbucks Via
Instant coffee is honestly a space that I never thought Starbucks would venture into and I don’t think I am alone in this. Afterall, Starbucks mission statement opening line was: “To establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffees in the world…” Via immediately had people drawing comparisons between Starbucks via and companies like Nescafe.
Reason #3: Super Automatic Espresso Machines
The decision to introduce the super automatic espresso machine was one of the first steps Starbucks took down the road to being compared to Mcdonalds. Before they made the switch to auto espresso machines they had La Marzoccos which are known for their ability to make great espresso. I personally remember the day our store made the switch and immediately upon getting the new machines I could tell a marked difference in quality of taste.
Reason #4: Frappuccinos
Starbucks introduced Frappuccinos in 1994, after purchasing the Coffee Connection. The Frappuccino’s success was huge and they are the first thing many people think of when they hear the Starbucks brand mentioned. If your main reference point for a coffee shop is how delicious their coffee milkshakes are then chances are you don’t think of them as a purveyor of the world’s finest coffee.
Reason #5: Starbucks K-Cups
Starbucks just released their coffee on the K-Cup platform and from a business standpoint this move makes sense. Starbucks is taking advantage of a huge opportunity to make money in a market that has been otherwise remained untapped by the coffee giant (And will do the same for Keurig.) Though it makes business sense, it is just one more brick in the building of Starbucks being the Mcdonalds of coffee. K-Cups, though they are quick and require little clean up offer now where near the quality of taste that fresh ground coffee beans deliver.
Reason #6: 2 percent Milk is Standard
A few year back Starbucks switched their standard espresso milk from whole milk to 2 percent. The reason Starbucks gave for making the switch was: It’s what people want and Americans are increasingly becoming more health conscience. The most compelling reason I have heard for Starbucks making this switch is the cost factor. Two percent Milk is less expensive than whole milk and a penny saved is a penny earned, just ask Mcdonald’s. Mcdonald’s still continues to offer many of the same products at the same prices because of incremental changes in quality. This incremental change by Starbucks may have allowed them to increase profits in the short term but is just one more reason we can add to the list of why people compare Starbucks to Mcdonald’s.
Reason #7: Changing Their Mission Statement
This is probably the most compelling reason people compare Starbucks to Mcdonalds. Starbucks mission statement for over 20 years started like this, To establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffees in the world…” The new mission statement starts like this, “Our mission: to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.” The old mission statement was obviously focused on coffee and had definable goals. The new mission statement is so broad and filled with so much ambiguity it could really mean anything the individual reader wants it to mean.
Bonus Reason
A while back Mcdonald’s ran ads which said things like, “Spending 4 bucks on coffee is dumb.” These ads really started to cement the comparison of Starbucks and Mcdonald’s into people’s minds.
One follow up point, I don’t really think Starbucks minds being compared to Mcdonalds. Mcdonalds is a successful business that creates value for it’s stockholders and I think Starbucks overall goal is the same.
What do you think, is Starbucks the Mcdonalds of coffee?
But if it wasn’t for Starbies what would keep the riff-raff out of real coffee shops?
Starbies that’s a new one, mind if I steal it?
Starbies? New? http://www.google.com/search?q=starbies
“a lot sense”, “obviously focus”, “chances are you don’t not think”, “known for it’s ability”, “the past couple years”, “drawing comparison’s”, “health conscience” -and so on.
Any chance this could be rewritten in Englsh?
Sorry about that. Some parts read like Chinese being translated into English, lol.
I have said for at least ten years that very statement. Scout’s honor. The words “Starbucks is the McDonalds of coffee” have passed my lips no less than 50 times. Although I disagree with some of your reasoning, it cracked me up that a few years ago SB actually made it a point to say, “We are not trying to compete with McDonalds” and yet many/most of their moves were in direct contradiction to that very statement.
1-There are a few great coffee shops that offer breakfast sandwiches, although that direction often leads to a whole ‘nother set of circumstances.
2-Via doesn’t make them the McDs of coffee, it makes them worse. They actually promoted, “Via is basically indistinguishable from a cup at our stores, so get some for your convenience”. That was abismal.
3-Absolutely
4-Hmmm, not necessarily. I know there will be disagreement on this, but I believe a great coffee shop can offer great cold coffee drinks and frozen coffee drinks.
5-This actually gives them an edge over McDs. They have an ability to make a HUGE chunk o change off this. They may even shut stores down to sell K-cups ;^)
6-Yea, I agree. If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck…
7-I’m glas they changed their mission statement. They were not being true to it for a long time and now they are. Kudos for being an easier target than ever!
Viva la Independents!
You say it like it’s a bad thing.
Seriously though, the price of have a ubiquitously available and consistent quality product is a change in the crafted experience. Sure, I lament the demise of the manual shot made by my favorite barista who knew how to make the perfect Americano. But then again, I love the fact that I drove from Boston to Austin and was able to find (using the Starbucks iPhone app) Starbucks locations easily. I knew these stores would be clean, be in safe areas, have free wifi and serve high quality coffee and reasonably good food.
I understand the tantrums people through when the cool thing they discovered suddenly becomes mainstream but that’s the way the world works. If the local coffee shops could make a reasonably robust cup of coffee that doesn’t taste like cardboard I would certainly frequent them. And seeing as there is no Peet’s near me, I stay loyal to Starbucks.
Peet’s and Sbx make the worst coffee around. Reasonably robust? What does that even mean? Someone burned it enough?
great to see you here.
ubiquitously available and consistent quality product? I would say consistently mediocre quality (at best). Would you drink their espresso straight? A quality coffee shop should know how to pull a short pull double ristretto.
Saying that, I can drink their lattes, as long as they’re made using whole milk, or better yet, breve/whole. Helps to cover the bitter taste of their poor espresso …
On the other hand, they are introducing alot of people to a broader coffee experience than QuikTrip’s cappuccino.
It’s my hope that these people would continue on their journey to find the perfect cup, and seek out better coffee shops, and figure out what they can do to make a better cup of coffee at home.
That is my hope as well. Cheers!
I agree with Mike. Consistent coffee, across the country, and always good. If that makes them McDonalds, fine. Maybe they’ll start making little Starbuck’s Happy Meals!
Consistent – yes. Ubiquitous – yes. Good coffee? Not by any standards.
It’s a great article, but I honestly don’t know what led you to these comparisons.
I’ve made that point for years, based on one simple principle – repeatable consistency. Starbucks is a known quantity, anywhere. I live in Texas, but whether I’m travelling to Seattle, Kentucky, Minnesota, Miami, London (UK), or anywhere else – it’s the same experience. It’s familiar.
Same with McD’s. Yes, the floor plans are a bit different, and yes, their non-US locations incorporate some regional flair, but basically, a Quarter Pounder is a Quarter Pounder the world over.
Most of the time, when I’m away for work, I want to dive into the local color and see what the “natives” do, so to speak. Sometimes, though, I want the same uberfamiliar experience that I don’t have to think about or be jarred by. That, I think, is why both companies grow – they make a brand on being the same, EVERYWHERE.
(And yes, quality suffers in the process. Starbucks isn’t *bad*, but I don’t think I’d call it *good*, either. It’s familiar.)
Mike and Mike, I understand the consistency point. The problem is quality. If you look at the original mission statement (“premier purveyor of the finest coffees in the world”) and what they have become over the last number of years the two do not match. I too appreciate consistency and have gone to a number of SBs for that reason when I travel. They currently offer mostly mediocre coffees at best with equipment that does not allow for excellence – all to build stock value and share owner’s dividends.
You forgot one VERY important reason: IN-STORE KIOSKS. When they started infiltrating the grocery stores, Targets, etc…THAT is also when they plummeted. EVERY single one of them are terrible. The people that work them have no idea what they are doing in most cases and the items offered are a joke, a shadow of the actual item in the physical Starbucks cafes in cities and towns. I actually went into a Target one recently on a road trip and (insanely) ordered a tall nonfat triple wet capp with two pumps of vanilla – and the girl actually looked at me and asked, “Um, what’s a Cappuccino?”…I told her never mind and got the heck out of there. And promptly stopped into a small local coffeehouse and had THE BEST Cappuccino in a REALLY long time.
And, honestly, I can also pinpoint almost to the exact day our four local Starbucks cafes changed to an automated machine. The coffee was noticably different and watered down swill. From that day on everywhere I went it was the same old thing: watered down espresso. Now you practically have to order a triple longshot to get back to the way the espresso used to taste – and that’s only if that particular Starbucks HAS a special machine that can perform those pulls. And those machines are a fairly recent thing in the Starbucks cafes, I’m told. I only found this out after researching what the heck a longshot or ristretto pull is! Most regular coffee and espresso drinkers are not even going to know those terms.
And don’t even get me started on their VIA. DISGUSTING. I’m the one most refer to when talking about the “spew” episode in one of our local Starbucks when they first introduced it. They had samples and my friend and I were headed in to get regular drip coffee and her a Frappuccino (I have gone elsewhere for my espresso until ALL the Starbucks cafes get the machines that can do longshot and ristretto pulls – I mean, seriously? Why can’t ALL of them have the “special” machine?)..anyway, I took a drink and literally spewed it back out. Totally unintentional. Completely. I was mortified. But my mouth and throat absolutely would not allow me to swallow that disgusting mixture.
K-Cups…yes, I have to disagree on that as well. I LOVE my Keurig. LOVE IT. And I tend to favor Green Mountain K-Cups, but was thrilled when Starbucks FINALLY joined the world of K-Cups with their Breakfast Blend. And I am impressed with them. Though, I do have to add hot water after brewing at the largest setting – it’s still really strong otherwise.
Loving a Keurig and referring to lungo’s as “longshots” places you directly in the coffee noob category. Sbx espresso isn’t watered down, it’s just not brewed correctly, and comes from poor quality coffee. Tasting a straight shot from Sbx is a good way to induce vomiting.
Sbx can easily make a ristretto or lungo with their automated machines, but it won’t matter – it will still be terrible because the machine is automated and more importantly the coffee it terrible. I live near a Starbucks with a Clover machine ($12k brewer) and no matter which coffee I tried or how capable the machine was the coffee was always terrible. It’s akin to putting dirty dishwater into your Ferrari and expecting to have the Ferrari driving experience. It’t not going to happen!
If you love your Keurig you just haven’t learned enough about coffee yet
They don’t brew correctly for ratio or temperature, nor they do use freshly roasted coffee.
Isn’t McDonald’s the McDonald’s of coffee?
no Mcdonalds is the Mcdonalds of burgers. The idea is: Mcdonalds is to burgers what Starbucks is to coffee.
I’m not sure cost is a factor in #6 unless purchasing 2%/Whole milk has different costs associated with it from a business perspective. Not sure about #4 either but I generally don’t consider that ‘coffee’ (tho it’s not horrible from a cold beverage perspective) so that may have something to do with it. I’ll admit bias I don’t care for large quantity/bulk roasters anyway so Starbucks has never had particularly good coffee IMHO. That being said starbucks did draw public interest back to what was for a long time a rather mundane morning beverage for many.
I don’t have a Starbucks or McDonalds around here; actually, I have to roast my own beans to get a decent cup. I’m so unlucky…
Oh, and I hate fancy electronic coffee makers, I use an Aeropress or caffeteria most of the time and pan roast my beans, ideally over coals in the woodstove.
Even though my roasts are inconsistent, when I get one right it is divine, and even when I screw up it’s still usually better than anything I can get around here!
I think its ironic that 100 years ago people were drinking a fresher cup of coffee than most do today…
I don’t think that any mega-chain can master something so complex and subject to individual taste as a beautiful cup of coffee. So, to me, I guess Starbucks/McDonalds/Tim Hortons/name your mega-chain are all pretty much equally “meh”…
Please support your local roaster/independent cafe over these greedy giants whenever you can!!!
The first time I ever went to a Starbucks was in October-ish of this year (2011) when I attended a Ragu Brand Immersion day. I needed coffee badly and it was the only coffee place across from the hotel. My best friend from Texas was there and she always said I was missing out because I don’t have a local StarBucks…. well I tried one drink and honestly I think we need one local for me to truly be able to test more of their products and drinks before I make a decision as to what my opinion is. I have no clue where our closest one is here in NH.
Maybe there’s a point to be made that there is such a thing as a coffee company becoming too big. Perhaps Starbucks should be moved from “Specialty Coffee” to “Premium Coffee” category, they must buy large volumes of green lots now … guess that’s another debate.
Specialty coffee is a vague term anyway…
McDonalds is becoming the Starbucks of burgers.
I suppose that could be Reason Number Eight.
Great article. We have lots of customers who complain that starbucks coffee is “no good”. However the general population LOVE the starbucks experience. It is not just the product they like, its the whole experience of being in a starbucks store. We do feel they are drifting towards being a Mcdonalds establishment, “selling their soul” some may argue for financial reasons. They want a piece of every pie in the coffee market which is admirable, but they should not drop their in-store standards.
The No 1 Reason Starbuck is identical to MacDonalds?
I’d never set foot in either of them.
If I want to eat meat I’ll got to a restaurant where the chef knows how to cook it. (rare)
If I want coffee (double ristretto piccolo pls) I’ll go to an independent cafe where the barrista takes the time and care to make a great cup of coffee.
I agree with everything you said. On the other hand though if Fraps, K-Cups and all the other nonsense true coffee drinkers despise get people in the door. Then Starbucks can introduce them to true, great coffee i.e. French presses, pourovers, the clover machine and most importantly Starbucks Reserves and single origin coffees.
sbx has no true great coffee. they try so adorably though. clover machine with old stale burnt reserve Kenyan. or a bag of 3 month of reserve kona for $50/lb. give me a break!
I appreciated your article, & I don’t want to be too picky, but there is a pretty big difference between Automatic machines and Super-Automatic machines. Since it could potentially cause confusion in readers, I thought I would point out that you say “automatic” when referring to the machines Starbucks switched to and are actually referring to “super-automatic” machines. Automatic machines still maintain a level of control over the espresso that super-auto’s remove… specifically in the use of an external bean grinder and removable portafilter (which requires tamping, a higher barista skill level, etc). It’s a significant enough difference that I wanted to bring it to your attention.
Very excellent and very true point. I will revise the language immediately, a complete oversight on my part. Thank you for taking the time to read the article and give such good feedback. (I really need to hire an editor.)
+1