Starbucks has taken product re-engineering very seriously. They have gone from just your regular corner coffee shop to an all out commercial retail store. You can buy anything from water bottles to lunch boxes. They have created an atmosphere of belonging. When their customers feel this sense of belonging, their stores become a haven, a break from the worries outside, a place where you can meet friends and relax. Not only have Starbucks created an atmosphere like no other, they have even committed to a role of environmental leadership in all facets of their business. To name one, Starbucks recently held a conference to develop a comprehensive recyclable cup. They have decided to re-engineer their cups to reduce their environmental impact. Starbucks introduced the recycled-content cup sleeve as a way to reduce “double-cupping”. A few years later they introduced the industry’s first paper beverage cup containing post-consumer recycled fiber (PCF). Since 2006, the switch to PCF cups at Starbucks stores in the U.S. and Canada has saved more than 44,000 tons of virgin wood fiber, the equivalent of more than 300,000 trees.
Starbucks founders had a vision. That vision was to find some of the world’s best coffee and share their passion and knowledge with their customers. In order to do this, they had to change the quality and way they bought their coffee. Starbucks needs oodles of coffee beans to feed its aggressive plans for global growth and they have re-engineered their buying process to purchase only the highest quality beans. Starbucks coffee-buying executives