Do we need Starbucks' single estate coffee?
‘We mustn’t waste the opportunity of this crisis’. That was Barack Obama’s message to Americans in 2008. Some people thought that global belt tightening brought on by the recession would change consumer behaviour – for the better. We would be shocked into a more sustainable way of living.
So what are we to make of Starbuck’s latest offering: super premium, exclusive (and undoubtedly delicious) single-origin coffee from The Galapagos Islands, that pristine wilderness somewhere remote in the Pacific?
This move from Starbucks is a classic example of the Lipstick effect in action. Economists believe that during hard times people forego extravagant purchases like cars, holidays and kitchens and instead spend their money on small luxuries like make-up, gadgets and other petty indulgences. It’s a way of maintaining feel good factor without risking the house on a serious outlay of cash.
It’s also a dashing of any hopes that the recession would instantaneously transform our attitudes towards what is valuable; what we should spend, what we must save. Today, at least for Starbucks consumers, it seems that rarity means exclusiveness means premium. It doesn’t mean scarcity, conservation or preservation.
Found via The Dieline
In: Food and Drink, Luxury, Viewpoints · Tags: Coffee, Premium, Recession, Starbucks
