When a lil drink thing got moved all the way to the Good Microbrew & Grill in Silverlake, I freaked out about the driving & pollution issue. Then I thought, hey, I’ll take the Starbucks Challenge at a store on my way there! 2 birds with 1 stone.

Then I looked things up. There are SIX Starbucks between me and Good Microbrew. I’m not talking about any of the side roads — just the ones strictly on La Cienega and Sunset — the most efficient route, according to Mapquest.

In the interest of time, and to minimize parking stress, I decided to just hit the four on Sunset.

The first victim: The Starbucks right next to Saddle Ranch. The barista told me there was no fair trade coffee in store, and that their manager had stopped ordering the blend entirely, so none had been on the premises for quite some time. He also said, quite confidently, that all Starbucks brew fair trade coffee on Wednesday mornings.

I’m not sure how they even come up with this stuff. Are the baristas actually fed this misinformation? And if so, by who? And — how can all stores brew fair trade coffee if this store doesn’t even keep it in stock?

Second victim: The Starbucks on Sunset & La Brea (right). I asked for fair trade, and the barista told me what they had on brew. I asked if they could make a cup of fair trade for me, which she agreed to do — in 10 minutes.

Then she started scanning the shelves, and asked if I’d like the Serena Organic Blend.

Me: Um, is that fair trade?
Barista: I don’t…
Another barista piped in and said that it wasn’t. I actually had to scan the shelves myself and pick out a Cafe Estima bag for her — at which point she said the blend was “really good.”

So for 10 minutes, I looked at this drawing of a rather phallic bird (above left).Then I played with the Starbucks Bearista (left, made in China).

But still, I got my fair trade coffee.

Third victim: the Starbucks at Gower Gulch (right). The barista, again, repeated what they had brewing a couple times.

Me: Oh. Um, can you make a cup of fair trade coffee for me? Or is that…

Barista: Uhhh — Let me go ask my manager.

He did, while I waited. When he came back: “Sorry, we don’t have any fair trade coffee in store right now.”

Of course, while he was talking to the manager, I took a picture of one of the many bags of fair trade coffee on the store shelves (right).

Thanks, I said, and walked out. [**Update, 12/12/05: A kind barista has since informed me that my request may've been taken as a request for Starbucks' old "Fair Trade Blend," which has been replaced by Cafe Estima. But couldn't the manager have told him that?]

2 strikes out of 3 — including not just bad customer service, but an outright lie. I was running late at this point, so had to skip the last Starbucks — the one next to Vons.

Yeah — Those emails Starbucks sent out are really changing things around here…

Filed in: starbuckschallenge coffee csr fair-trade fairtrade starbucks losangeles california

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