Am I such a sucker for SBUX? Maybe I'm just infatuated with Howie
This is why I think people should keep journals... I have to remind myself from time to time that getting your thoughts out there is good...
I found an email that I had written to Howard Schultz, then CEO of Starbucks, just a couple of weeks after the 2004 tsunami that hit South Asia. To this day I still believe Mr. Schultz actually read my email personally, although I had to hear from one of his minions...
Now, every article or press thing I read, Schultz always mentions Sumatra as his favorite coffee... I'd like to think my email had something to do with converting him into a fan.
Dear Mr. Schultz,
I have been a loyal customer of Starbucks for five years. I originally came from Indonesia, and your product labels boast familiar Indonesian islands famous for their coffee, such as Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi.
Just ten days after the devastating South Asian earthquake and tsunami this past Christmas, I received an email from Starbucks offering the "Black-Apron exclusive" Aged Sumatra Lot 523 product. As you and the rest of the world might know, Sumatra was the hardest-hit island by the disaster. The email did not mention this fact at all, nor did it mention whether the company would give contributions such as donating a percentage of the sale proceeds to help rebuild the battered island of Sumatra. .My interpretations of the email offer: it is an attempt to sell your product that has been sitting on the inventory shelf ("aged") since Sumatra has become as well-known as Colombia, or an effort to jack up the price of Sumatra coffee that will likely become rare ("exclusive") due to the impact of the tsunami. Either way, it feels like you are exploiting the devastating tragedy that hit Sumatra to reap more profits.
Mr. Schultz, is "Sumatra" just a label for you? If your coffee was really from Sumatra, wouldn’t you have a vested interest in the well-being of the island and their people?
Amidst the global efforts to raise funds for the tsunami victims, I expected your company to step up to participate in fund-raising efforts to help the coffee growers and their communities in that region. The email addressed us as "Dear Sumatra lover," which regrettably was not utilized to communicate how your company plans to help the victims there.
Unfortunately I don’t work for Starbucks, so I don’t know what your company’s efforts are to help the Southeast Asian tsunami victims. I wish they were more transparent to your customers. I buy your products in hopes that you will give back to the coffee growers and stimulate the economy in the Southeast Asia region. I had been very proud of Starbucks for the high quality product. And I believed your corporate social responsibility statement of caring for your coffee growers. Funny how a single email with a bad choice of words sent at the wrong time can disappoint me so much.
Mr. Schultz, I am a Sumatra lover. Not only the product, but most importantly, the island. You should be too if you believe in your product.
Thank you for your time and attention,
Email sent on Jan 7th, 2005.
Seattle, February 25, 2008
Howard Schultz Transformation Agenda Communication #8
To: All Partners
From: Howard Schultz
Re: As we embark on Espresso Excellence Training
Aged Sumatra … that’s what I’m drinking as I write you this note. Hands down, it’s my favorite coffee. Aged for three to five years in a warehouse in Singapore, then shipped as green coffee to our plant in Kent, Washington, and roasted to perfection. The result is a stunning cup of coffee. The velvety mouthful, the full-body of one of our classic Indonesian coffees, and the subtle but ever-present earthiness and spiciness brought to life by our proprietary aging process. It’s rare, it’s exotic, and it’s ours. What a gift … and we get to share it with one another and with our customers.
Tomorrow evening, we will come together in an unprecedented event in our company’s storied history. We will close all of our U.S. company-operated stores to teach, educate and share our love of coffee, and the art of espresso. And in doing so, we will begin to elevate the Starbucks Experience for our customers. We are passionate about our coffee. And we will revisit our standards of quality that are the foundation for the trust that our customers have in our coffee and in all of us.
But, as I think about it, there is another perhaps equally important reason why we have scheduled this training. It’s to celebrate who we are.
We are Starbucks. We should be incredibly proud of what we have built. We are the worldwide leader of specialty coffee. And, believe me when I tell you, we are just getting started. We will overcome the difficult and humbling challenges we face, and will be stronger for it. You have my word on that.
We are Bean Stock, we are Healthcare, and we are also the Cup Fund.
We are at our best when we are entrepreneurial and courageous, push for innovation and reject the status quo. We are leaders not followers--we leave that for others.
We are the third place in the lives of millions of our customers. We are the coffee that brings people together every day around the world to foster conversation and community.
As Starbucks partners, we are bound together by the passion we have for our coffee and the customer experience. More than 170,000 of us stand for quality and an uncompromising ethical standard. We uphold our guiding principles by demonstrating respect and dignity for one another, and for our customers.
Thank you in advance for embracing tomorrow night in the spirit in which it is intended. Have fun, but also make it matter. Learn, teach, and share with your fellow partners.
Celebrate our coffee, one another, and the respect we have for our customers.
Onward,
Howard
February 4, 2008
Howard Schultz Transformation Agenda Communication #4
What I Know to be True
Dear partners,
As I sit down to write this note (6:30 a.m. Sunday morning) I am enjoying a spectacular cup of Sumatra, brewed my favorite way - in a French press.
It has been three weeks since I returned to my role as ceo of the company I love. We have made much progress as we begin to transform and innovate and there is much more to come. But this is not a sprint - it is a marathon - it always has been. I assure you that when all is said and done, we will, as we always have, succeed at our highest potential. We will not be deterred from our course - we are and will be a great, enduring company, known for inspiring and nurturing the human spirit. ---- source: Starbucks website
February 25, 2006:
Some people might want a "double tall skinny hazelnut decaf latte", but Howard Schultz is not one of them. The chairman and "chief global strategist" of the Starbucks coffee chain prefers a Sumatra roast with no milk, no sugar and poured from a French press-the kind of pure coffee, in fact, favoured by those coffee snobs who sneer at Starbucks, not just for its bewildering variety of choice and flavours (55,000 different drinks, by the company's count), but for its very ubiquity-over 10,500 locations around the world, increasing at a rate of five a day, and often within sight of each other. --- CSR
What can I say? The man loves his coffee... and it happens to be: Sumatra. Long live the beans!
I found an email that I had written to Howard Schultz, then CEO of Starbucks, just a couple of weeks after the 2004 tsunami that hit South Asia. To this day I still believe Mr. Schultz actually read my email personally, although I had to hear from one of his minions...
Now, every article or press thing I read, Schultz always mentions Sumatra as his favorite coffee... I'd like to think my email had something to do with converting him into a fan.
Dear Mr. Schultz,
I have been a loyal customer of Starbucks for five years. I originally came from Indonesia, and your product labels boast familiar Indonesian islands famous for their coffee, such as Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi.
Just ten days after the devastating South Asian earthquake and tsunami this past Christmas, I received an email from Starbucks offering the "Black-Apron exclusive" Aged Sumatra Lot 523 product. As you and the rest of the world might know, Sumatra was the hardest-hit island by the disaster. The email did not mention this fact at all, nor did it mention whether the company would give contributions such as donating a percentage of the sale proceeds to help rebuild the battered island of Sumatra. .My interpretations of the email offer: it is an attempt to sell your product that has been sitting on the inventory shelf ("aged") since Sumatra has become as well-known as Colombia, or an effort to jack up the price of Sumatra coffee that will likely become rare ("exclusive") due to the impact of the tsunami. Either way, it feels like you are exploiting the devastating tragedy that hit Sumatra to reap more profits.
Mr. Schultz, is "Sumatra" just a label for you? If your coffee was really from Sumatra, wouldn’t you have a vested interest in the well-being of the island and their people?
Amidst the global efforts to raise funds for the tsunami victims, I expected your company to step up to participate in fund-raising efforts to help the coffee growers and their communities in that region. The email addressed us as "Dear Sumatra lover," which regrettably was not utilized to communicate how your company plans to help the victims there.
Unfortunately I don’t work for Starbucks, so I don’t know what your company’s efforts are to help the Southeast Asian tsunami victims. I wish they were more transparent to your customers. I buy your products in hopes that you will give back to the coffee growers and stimulate the economy in the Southeast Asia region. I had been very proud of Starbucks for the high quality product. And I believed your corporate social responsibility statement of caring for your coffee growers. Funny how a single email with a bad choice of words sent at the wrong time can disappoint me so much.
Mr. Schultz, I am a Sumatra lover. Not only the product, but most importantly, the island. You should be too if you believe in your product.
Thank you for your time and attention,
Email sent on Jan 7th, 2005.
Seattle, February 25, 2008
Howard Schultz Transformation Agenda Communication #8
To: All Partners
From: Howard Schultz
Re: As we embark on Espresso Excellence Training
Aged Sumatra … that’s what I’m drinking as I write you this note. Hands down, it’s my favorite coffee. Aged for three to five years in a warehouse in Singapore, then shipped as green coffee to our plant in Kent, Washington, and roasted to perfection. The result is a stunning cup of coffee. The velvety mouthful, the full-body of one of our classic Indonesian coffees, and the subtle but ever-present earthiness and spiciness brought to life by our proprietary aging process. It’s rare, it’s exotic, and it’s ours. What a gift … and we get to share it with one another and with our customers.
Tomorrow evening, we will come together in an unprecedented event in our company’s storied history. We will close all of our U.S. company-operated stores to teach, educate and share our love of coffee, and the art of espresso. And in doing so, we will begin to elevate the Starbucks Experience for our customers. We are passionate about our coffee. And we will revisit our standards of quality that are the foundation for the trust that our customers have in our coffee and in all of us.
But, as I think about it, there is another perhaps equally important reason why we have scheduled this training. It’s to celebrate who we are.
We are Starbucks. We should be incredibly proud of what we have built. We are the worldwide leader of specialty coffee. And, believe me when I tell you, we are just getting started. We will overcome the difficult and humbling challenges we face, and will be stronger for it. You have my word on that.
We are Bean Stock, we are Healthcare, and we are also the Cup Fund.
We are at our best when we are entrepreneurial and courageous, push for innovation and reject the status quo. We are leaders not followers--we leave that for others.
We are the third place in the lives of millions of our customers. We are the coffee that brings people together every day around the world to foster conversation and community.
As Starbucks partners, we are bound together by the passion we have for our coffee and the customer experience. More than 170,000 of us stand for quality and an uncompromising ethical standard. We uphold our guiding principles by demonstrating respect and dignity for one another, and for our customers.
Thank you in advance for embracing tomorrow night in the spirit in which it is intended. Have fun, but also make it matter. Learn, teach, and share with your fellow partners.
Celebrate our coffee, one another, and the respect we have for our customers.
Onward,
Howard
February 4, 2008
Howard Schultz Transformation Agenda Communication #4
What I Know to be True
Dear partners,
As I sit down to write this note (6:30 a.m. Sunday morning) I am enjoying a spectacular cup of Sumatra, brewed my favorite way - in a French press.
It has been three weeks since I returned to my role as ceo of the company I love. We have made much progress as we begin to transform and innovate and there is much more to come. But this is not a sprint - it is a marathon - it always has been. I assure you that when all is said and done, we will, as we always have, succeed at our highest potential. We will not be deterred from our course - we are and will be a great, enduring company, known for inspiring and nurturing the human spirit. ---- source: Starbucks website
February 25, 2006:
Some people might want a "double tall skinny hazelnut decaf latte", but Howard Schultz is not one of them. The chairman and "chief global strategist" of the Starbucks coffee chain prefers a Sumatra roast with no milk, no sugar and poured from a French press-the kind of pure coffee, in fact, favoured by those coffee snobs who sneer at Starbucks, not just for its bewildering variety of choice and flavours (55,000 different drinks, by the company's count), but for its very ubiquity-over 10,500 locations around the world, increasing at a rate of five a day, and often within sight of each other. --- CSR
What can I say? The man loves his coffee... and it happens to be: Sumatra. Long live the beans!