Met Dawn for lunch at the Westwood Native Foods today — for yummy vegan food without the Real Food Daily price tag. I got a Bali Surf Burger, Dawn got Tijuana Tacos, and we split both. Cost for the eats plus a chai latte for Dawn: $15 and some cents, after my KCRW Fringe Benefits Card discount!
Of course, I used this trip as another opportunity to take another Starbucks Challenge or three. There are, by the way, 3 Starbucks on Westwood within walking distance.
The first (left), on Olympic and Westwood, almost failed the challenge when the barista first said fair trade wasn’t brewing, then tried to charge me extra when I asked for a French press. Luckily, a coffee master jumped in with his eggnog-latte-bespattered apron to save the fair trade day.
The second, on Westwood and Missouri, was PERFECT — by the book — the way all Starbucks Challenge experiences really should be, according to Starbucks’ official, marketed policy. I asked for a fair trade coffee, and the barista said “I can French press one for you.” Five minutes later, I had my fair trade coffee, and a second non-sexual crush on a Starbucks barista (go here for deets on the first crush).
The third, on 1161 Westwood (left), was technically challenged by Dawn — I was on the sidelines, taking pictures. To the right’s the barista who shiftily told Dawn “I don’t think we have any in store,” clearly reluctant to bother checking.
I’m kinda wondering why so many Starbucks seem to be out of fair trade coffee lately (see here, here, here, here, here, and the comments here and here). I mean, I’d rather not think all these baristas are lying about their stores’ fair-trade-less-ness. Is it possible that customer demand has overwhelmingly surpassed Starbucks’ meager 1.6% of fair trade purchases? Or is Starbucks’ distribution system really this shitty?
Oh wait, I mean, I’m very thankful I got a couple cups of fair trade coffee from Starbucks today, finally. What’s up with my glass-half-empty ‘tude? This challenge is slowly killing my innocent optimism –
Filed in: starbuckschallenge starbucks coffee csr fairtrade vegan nativefoods westwood
Add to that OUT OF FAIR TRADE list my favorite SBX in LaVerne, although this afternoon I was told it would be in in a day or two, and she did go spend a few minutes checking in back when I asked if they were out.
FYI, I always check for the Fair Trade stuff on the shelf before challanging so if they say they are out I can say “No your not.” with certainty. (Grin).
Yeah for your WINNING store . . . maybe they need a Certificate or a button: I PASSED the STARBUCKS CHALLLANGE!
Comment by Roger, Gone Green — November 28, 2005 @ 5:28 pm
FWIW, my Starbucks is still out of Cafe Estima -and has been for 2 weeks, anyway. Sigh….
Comment by Andrea — November 28, 2005 @ 8:06 pm
AND, I posted this elsewhere, but the SBX in Malibu, Trancas Cnyn, claimed to be out as well this past weekend.
Been meaning to ask if you’ve had any experience w/ Peets? I LOVE Peets coffee, one of my eco-vices, would allay my guilt significantly if they offered FT…..
Comment by Anna — November 29, 2005 @ 5:39 am
I don’t go to Peet’s much — They do have one fair trade blend. Everyone I’ve talked to, however — including FT certified companies — always say that Peet’s is managed by “good people.” I do need more time to investigate this, but the impression I get from the coffee industry is that Peet’s does a lot of good — more than Starbucks — although they’re less noisy about it :)
In any case, I’ve heard yummy things about Peet’s fair trade blend — Wanna try it out sometime?
Comment by Siel — November 30, 2005 @ 2:05 am
Well, I have just tried three starbucks in the last three days:
Montreal, Canada, Dorval International Airport – they were out of Fair Trade coffee.
Culver City, starbucks inside Target on Jefferson – had absolutely no idea what FT coffee was, how I could get it, nor why I would want it. I saw no french presses anywhere behind the counter, either.
Culver City, Venice Blvd at Culver Blvd. – the first barista had no idea what FT coffee was, the second one told me they were only brewing Guatemalan today. I asked if they would french press some for me, and he was all smiles, and said he would gladly do so if I would care to wait while he ground and pressed it.
So, one out of three had FT coffee, but it did not quite have the textbook response to my question.
Comment by cristin — November 30, 2005 @ 11:19 am
Hey cristin — Do you live in Culver City, or Montreal? Either way, thanks for joining in :)
Comment by Siel — December 1, 2005 @ 10:05 pm