Starbucks Boss Too Honest Too Dumb?

Posted: Apr 07 2012

Read More: brewing coffee, cafetiere, Starbucks Coffee, whole bean coffee

SEATTLE – Starbucks coffee chain CEO Howard Schultz made a few comments about his own products that aren’t exactly favoring his company’s image.

Schultz told Business Week that the coffee that Starbucks sells isn’t the best and the only way to make good coffee is at home using a cafetiere and not the way Starbucks makes coffee.

A cafetiere is a glass jug in which coarsely grounded coffee is placed which is then covered with boiling water. A metal type plunger is used to push the rising coffee grinds to the bottom of the jug to pack them together tightly.

According to Starbucks’ front man that’s how you make the best coffee known to man.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. Photo Credit: AEP

As an insider’s tip, Schultz said the cafetiere should not be placed on a hot surface to keep the coffee warm. Instead pour the content in a thermos and drink the coffee within two hours.

Schultz also said his customers shouldn’t by ground coffee but whole beans instead and ground the beans at home. Interestingly enough every Starbucks location sells ground coffee and even supermarkets carry Starbucks ground coffee.

The remarks made by Schultz rises the question if Starbucks CEO is really that naive or just plain dumb that he talks rather negative about the coffee he sells.

Not so, Starbucks sells a bag of coffee beans for about $14, depending on the location. The cafetiere, Schultz talked about, is also sold at his stores at $19 a unit.

No doubt, many Starbucks fan who read Mr. Schultz’s article in Business Week, will be buying the cafetieres off the shelves faster than employees can stock them on their next visit to their favorite coffee house.

Considering there are 17,009 Starbucks stores in more than 55 countries and over 11,000 of those are in the United States alone, Schultz stands to profit handsomely from his ‘negative’ product review.