MILAN – Following the announcement of Starbucks’ arrival in Italy, BBC radio has asked Cristina Caroli, SCAE Italia’s Communication Manager, for a comment. Here is the integral text of the interview.
The arrival of Starbucks in Italy, has been announced on several occasions before, but it was something which was always a “tall story” and then never actually materialized.
We think this will be an event which will arouse much interest and a lot of curiosity, both amongst people in the coffee industry and coffee-consuming members of the public.
The question that immediately arises is this: will Starbucks adapt their offering in some way to the Italian market, perhaps by focusing more on espresso and offering the option to consume coffee at the counter itself, or will their proposal have the standard characteristics of Starbucks branches in any other country?
The President of Starbucks has said that they are “entering the Italian market with great respect for espresso.” We think that this is no coincidence. He is taking into account the fact that the company is entering the home of espresso and will, naturally, be judged on this type of beverage.
In Italy the espresso tradition has always been one of having a very quick drink at the counter of the coffee bar. The only type of espresso-based drink that Italians might allow themselves to savour for a slightly longer period of time might be a cappuccino.
Coffee is a social ritual here. It’s an, often amusing, habit of consuming espresso in a sort of frenetic “hit and run”, or in a short time slot carved out between one work commitment and the next.
It is a completely different type of consumption ritual from the one which Starbucks usually offers.
Starbucks branches are very different from typical Italian coffee bars in that they have ample space to sit, the option to stay for a long time if the customer wishes, a wi-fi connection, and “longer” and “larger” drinks which are mainly very milky and often include flavoured syrups.
It is a very different type of offering and one which will probably have a different pricing structure to that of a normal Italian coffee bar.
As a lot of professionals in the industry, and we as SCAE ITALIA, are very intrigued as to how the Starbucks prices will go down here.
Only form few time, Italians are already willing to pay a little more for a good quality coffee, but service here is fast and coffee is consumed standing up at the counter, (so this creates fewer overheads). It therefore remains to be seen how this variable will be handled by Starbucks.
We believe that, after initially being very closed and tied to its traditional ways, the Italian market is now much more open to the consumption of Speciality Coffee, thanks to the work of associations like SCAE.
Much work has been done to help consumers understand the value of a quality coffee offering, whilst maintaining a respect for the tradition of espresso, the drink that has always distinguished us.
Very probably this has created a chink of an opening which has meant that such an important chain as Starbucks has decided to take the plunge into the Italian market, but the espresso test in Italy might be quite hard, and Starbucks seems to take this in deep consideration.
We think very possibly, Italian opinion will be divided. There will be those who appreciate the Starbucks offering and will be curious to give it a go, and there will be those traditionalists who will continue to go for a classic Italian offering with familiar rhythms, (timings) and flavours.
It is no coincidence that the first Starbucks to open in Italy will be in Milan. There they will be able to plug into the trendy vibe of that city and find high-impact locations for their cafes in order to engage potential customers.
Also, Milan is the most international of all the Italian cities and Starbucks can therefore count on a large number of foreign customers passing through the city who, perhaps after trying some delicious and traditional Italian espressos, start to crave a different type of coffee experience which is perhaps more familiar to them.
Having plenty of variety in coffee proposal seems to be always an excellent idea, and we as SCAE are always open minded and also curious to see how the influence of the italian competence and proudness for espresso, has influenced STARBUCKS’s offer in Italy.
