Starbucks Case 
Michael Smurfit Graduate School
Economics of Entrepreneurship
John Cashell
Starbucks Case Study
Name: Cian Bolger
Student Number: 14204986
Q1: In the Early 1980s, how did Howard Schultz view the possibilities for the emerging specialty coffee market?
In the early 1980s Howard Schultz became interested in the specialized coffee market. He observed that there were only a few small coffee shops around the united states that did not have marketing budgets to expand or that they did not want to expand and were happy with only being a few shops. Howard Schultz noticed that of the coffee shops that were their i.e. Peats coffee house and Starbucks that its customers tended to be loyal and regular and also they would have good things to say regarding either shop depending on which one they visited Schultz noticed that these customers were telling friends, family and colleges about these gourmet coffee houses. Howard also realized that the revenue from specialized coffee was quiet lucrative and the market at the time had no big players or interest from companies already established at the time to grow any bigger. Howard Schultz noticed that there was a possibility to change coffee from a commodity into a branded offering. He had seen how the Italians treated their coffee as a social culture where they would meet and drink coffee in many coffee bars around Milan and Italy. In the current emerging coffee markets of the USA he noticed the possibility of bringing this culture to the United States. He noticed that in America at the time gourmet coffee accounted for less than one tenth of the industry sales and he believed he could change that. He realized that Americans lacked the opportunity to savour a good cup of coffee while engaging good conversation in a relaxed atmosphere. He believed that if he could get the American people to try his specialized coffee that they would be instantly hooked and would no longer just want the instant coffee from the
Economics of Entrepreneurship
John Cashell
Starbucks Case Study
Name: Cian Bolger
Student Number: 14204986
Q1: In the Early 1980s, how did Howard Schultz view the possibilities for the emerging specialty coffee market?
In the early 1980s Howard Schultz became interested in the specialized coffee market. He observed that there were only a few small coffee shops around the united states that did not have marketing budgets to expand or that they did not want to expand and were happy with only being a few shops. Howard Schultz noticed that of the coffee shops that were their i.e. Peats coffee house and Starbucks that its customers tended to be loyal and regular and also they would have good things to say regarding either shop depending on which one they visited Schultz noticed that these customers were telling friends, family and colleges about these gourmet coffee houses. Howard also realized that the revenue from specialized coffee was quiet lucrative and the market at the time had no big players or interest from companies already established at the time to grow any bigger. Howard Schultz noticed that there was a possibility to change coffee from a commodity into a branded offering. He had seen how the Italians treated their coffee as a social culture where they would meet and drink coffee in many coffee bars around Milan and Italy. In the current emerging coffee markets of the USA he noticed the possibility of bringing this culture to the United States. He noticed that in America at the time gourmet coffee accounted for less than one tenth of the industry sales and he believed he could change that. He realized that Americans lacked the opportunity to savour a good cup of coffee while engaging good conversation in a relaxed atmosphere. He believed that if he could get the American people to try his specialized coffee that they would be instantly hooked and would no longer just want the instant coffee from the