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| Starbucks fries leaves Ronald McDonald steamed |
Responding to competition from McDonalds, that was recently rated by Consumer Reports as having the best coffee (described as “decent and … had no flaws”, considerably better than that of Starbucks which was described as “strong, but burnt and bitter”), Starbucks has decided to offer fries in their 7100 domestic restaurants. “If McDonalds can compete with us on coffee, then you better believe we can compete with them on greasy fast food,” said Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz.
Indeed, industry analysts expect Starbucks to fully engage McDonalds, following their fries initiative with other fast food items such as the “Chicken McCaffine”, “Espresso Pounder” and the premier “Big Mug” sandwich. McDonalds is said to be considering responding with a sophisticated challenge to Starbucks including specialty meals such as the “Chicken Mocha Latte Quarter Pounder” and the “Caramel Frappachicken Blended Tazo Salad”.
(Note – the part about McDonalds coffee being the best rated chain restaurant coffee by Consumer Reports is true).
1 response so far ↓
1 adam hartung // Apr 8, 2008 at 11:14 am
Starbucks must wake up and realize their problems are NOT about the coffee. The market for coffee shops and gourmet prepared coffee is nearly saturated, and being overrun with mass competitors. Starbucks has to find new places to compete. Its forays into sandwiches, other merchandise, music production, movie production and star agency were the kinds of things that could save the company – and now Mr. Schulz is tearing those down to invest in a slugfest which will only drive down margins. Investors beware. Read more at http://www.ThePhoenixPrinciple.com
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