Is there light (Starbucks) at the end of the tunnel?
November 25th, 2007
Italians invented espresso and cappuccino. Fantastic! Humanity will be grateful forever. Then we stopped there.
Why is it that every other country capitalized on our inventions, and now have more choices when getting a hot drink than the average Italian could ever dream of?
Our range is limited to espresso, espresso macchiato, cappuccino and caffelatte. No choice regarding the size, the type of milk or even the container.
I could possibly agree that what we have is the best, but I’m sure that there is space for some product proliferation (I’m a microeconomist after all, I know these things). More choice could not hurt the average Italian bar customer.
Starbucks is now present in so many countries (even Romania) but does not dare to enter the Italian market, fearing rejection from the espresso-purists. In the last couple of years Lino’s Coffee , a chain that offers a large variety of coffee drinks (using flavours even!), has started opening cafés in many Italian cities.
Who knows, if they are successful then maybe Starbucks could be convinced to step in as well?!
The day may not be too far away when, stepping out pushing the Bugaboo, I will find my fix of tall-skinny-hazelnut-wet-latte with just two pumps of syrup right around the corner!
-Michela
Entry Filed under: Food Shops, For Ourselves
1 Comment Add your own
1. heather | April 16th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
I had really been enjoying your blog until I got to this post. So sad-what an ignorant post-clearly you have travelled and can appreciate culture…., there are choices at an Italian bar- you just have to ask..you also have to put up with the look you will get for asking for your “tall-skinny-hazelnut-wet-latte with just two pumps of syrup” ..if thats what you really want instead of having the original latte- the way it should be.
maybe you should spend more than a week in Milan…
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