Once again, 2 baristas got involved.
The first: “Fair what?”
The second: “Sure — would you like the pound bag?”
I said I just wanted a cup, and B2 said, “We can’t brew that right now,” and pointed me to the list of coffees that were brewing.
One of which was Cafe Estima — a fair trade blend, unbeknownst to the baristas.
This was the Starbucks on Venice, near Robertson. I’m a lil disappointed that the LA-based Starbucks managers we met with haven’t been able to improve things at all as of yet :(
On the upside, Trader Joe’s was just across the street. I’m now trying to relax with a bottle of Five Hills Blue merlot…
That’s a shame. I like the baristas at that SBs in general. I’m gonna do a challenge or three tomorrow since I’ll be out and about.
Y’know, the sad thing? I don’t *like* the Estima blend. At all. I don’t like to drink it. I wish they had more FT options, in addition to just, more awareness.
Comment by Rainy — January 4, 2006 @ 10:45 pm
Hey Siel!
I’ve had a few more experiences but have to update it later when I have time. BUT, i wanted to note that i also encountered a starbucks that didn’t know about Estima – they had it on the chalkboard:
Me: *excited* Oh! you’re brewing fair trade coffee today!
Barista: Sorry, we only have the ones listed.
Me: (points to the sign) But you have Estima?
Barista: Yes, we have that.
Me: That’s not fair trade?
Barista: Is it?
Another barista told him that it is. It just doesn’t make sense to me – from a marketing point of view, it is very much in Starbucks’ interest to exploit opportunities like these to advertise their corporate citizenship practices. But the barista didn’t even link Estima to their fair trade blend.
And another thing, a large part of having fair trade available in stores is the chance to educate buyers about FT, but this can only happen when the sellers themselves actually know about it.
talk about missed opportunities!
Comment by jeni — January 5, 2006 @ 4:24 am
forgot to mention, it’s the starbucks on 2nd ave and 9th st. in the East Village (NYC).
Comment by jeni — January 5, 2006 @ 4:26 am
OK, I’m really irked by this challenge failure, along with the one that Jeni mentions in her comments. It’s just as bad as the Mean Barista Failure in a different way. I mean how hard is it for the managers to let the baristas know about Cafe Estima being FT when it is a Coffee of the Week for crying out loud! Putting education about what FT means aside (for now, until they can at least identify their only FT brew), it seems to me that a mere mention to the baristas by the manager/asst. manager at the beginning of a shift that Estima is FT ought to do the trick. Or a post-it note on the register as you suggested before. This is not rocket science. Argh!!
Comment by lauren — January 5, 2006 @ 5:31 am
I’m left to conclude that it’s just not a priority for Starbucks to let baristas know about fair trade. Like Jason says, Cindy and the CSR dept. talk a big game. But when it comes down to taking the .5 minute to tell the baristas “BTW — Cafe Estima’s the new fair trade certified blend,” the mermaid just doesn’t do it.
I’m beginning to wonder if Starbucks — despite all the nice words — simply think fair trade’s a small fringe movement that’ll go away if they appease the activists just enough to keep them relatively quiet –
Comment by Siel — January 5, 2006 @ 11:08 pm
It’s funny that you assume because the baristas are uneducated about Cafe Estima that it is corporate’s fault. I happen to be a Starbucks barista and know first hand that Fair Trade and Cafe Estima information is in our workbooks and our new Coffee Passports (pg 60 to be exact). In fact, Cafe Estima is in our new Scoop newsletter this week. Corporate has given us every opportunity to learn about this. Some baristas just don’t bother to read the material.
Education needs to come for both sides – corporate and the customers. I have learned alot about certain coffees because a customer talked to me about their favorite blends. Instead of trying to trick the baristas, why not ask for Cafe Estima and talk about Fair Trade. It may prompt the baristas to study up more.
I guess I am trying to figure out if your “challenge” is really about helping coffee farmers or about finding fault with Starbucks. If you really, truly wanted to help the coffee farmers, I’d think you would be more than happy to help educate any barista about Fair Trade and not just try and trap them. Because the next time a customer asks for Fair Trade, the barista will know.
I would also recommend Siel and the other critical bloggers try working at a Starbucks store for a month or so. It is easy to critize a company or operation when you are on the outside. Walk in their shoes before you “assume” you know what is actually going on.
Comment by BaristaJockey — January 6, 2006 @ 11:44 am
My response is here, where you double-posted this comment. I would appreciate it, though, if you could keep each comment unique in the future…
Comment by Siel — January 6, 2006 @ 1:04 pm