Let us take a look at some of the variety of coffees that Starbuck offers. For $14.95 a lb. bag, you can get 10% Kona blend which boasts “A warm Aloha in every sip.” It has a Hawaiian princess pictured on its web site so it is certain to bring the taste of Hawaii to you.

For $9.95, you can buy the Breakfast Blend. Advertised as “mild and flavorful”, this blend must be the alternative to the adrenaline-producing regular brand. It has a cosmic looking face on its ad—presumably to tie-in its Latin American roots.

Starbucks Breakfast Blend is also offered in 18 2.5 oz packs per box at $42.95. This enables you to give them as gifts or as favors to friends, colleagues or family who need a morning lift. It is also advertised as “light-bodied” for the cautious.

The Starbucks Coffee chain was the target of fierce controversy, after the story broke that the company donates part of its profits to the Israeli army.

This came about because the President, Chairman, and CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, is Jewish.

This was actually a false rumor, but groups protested and acted against Starbucks anyway. Due to protests about this false rumor, Starbucks had to close a store in Beirut, Lebanon.

Pro-Palestine supporters also vandalized a Starbucks store in London on January 12, 2009, and it is believed that they tossed a firebomb onto the location after dark, causing more damage.

On January 17^th, there was a protest at Trafalgar Square in London. Two more Starbucks in the city were attacked and vandalized, by people upset over the alleged Zionist ties. Besides this controversy, Starbucks has dealt with labor disputes as well, over union issues.

In 2006 the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) protested and picketed outside fifty Starbucks locations in the US, demanding the reinstatement of some fired Starbucks employees, who had been engaging in union-organizing.

More recently, in 2008 the company has had to pay some baristas $100 million in lost wages, as the business practices had robbed them of some tip money, against labor laws. Starbucks has not had a smooth run during its existence, but it is still arguably the most popular coffee chain in the world.

Negative press and these controversies have hurt the company in the public sphere, but it still remains profitable and successful, despite all these setbacks.

There are approximately 16,120 stores in 94 countries spread through the world, and that number continues to grow every day, as more and more stores spring up all over. Starbucks started in Seattle, Washington, probably what helps Seattle be considered the ‘coffee capitol’ of the US. Starbucks coffee shops sell coffee, coffee products, breakfast items, and other related products.

Starbucks has also created its own entertainment division, called Hear Music, which sells CD’s and DVD’s in stores as well. Paul McCartney’s latest solo album, Memory Almost Full, was released on the Hear Music label, and sold only at Starbucks chains at first. The original Starbucks store was located on 2000 Western Avenue in Seattle, opening in 1971 at Pike Place Market.

The first Starbucks chain to open outside of the US was Tokyo in 1996. Since its inception, Starbucks has become more than just a ‘coffee shop’, into a globalized marketing phenomenon….tourists all over Europe can walk into a Starbucks in a lot of different countries, and feel the familiarity that they feel at home in the US.

Starbucks is a lot like McDonald’s in that regard, as the familiarity is palpable all across the globe.
Starbucks is the leading coffee chain in the world in terms of popularity, and that will undoubtedly increase as time goes on.

Fun trivia: the creators of Starbucks were inspired by Alfred Peet, the forefather of Peet’s Coffee & Tea, now a rival of Starbucks in the coffee business.