This week coffee giant, Starbucks — otherwise known as the only tax avoidance scheme that you can drink — announced plans to deliver hot or cold coffee (or rather cold and colder coffee) to its legions of customers.
There was no mention of logistics, just the simple statement that it would happen. Sometime.
Leaving the ‘how?’ aside, this begs the question: is door-to-door coffee delivery something that we really need? We live in a fast-paced world where everybody wants things instantly. That’s why things like instant coffee exist, for those people who haven't heard of ESE coffee pods, or who just want something hot in their mouths and haven’t got the courage to swallow fire. Yet although coffee is stereotypically seen as a busy person’s drink, we at Buongusto like to think that it is something be enjoyed, to be savoured. Sure, having your Starbucks delivered straight to you at your office or home is convenient, but is that really what we want when we drink coffee?
A lot of things are done online or through an app for the sheer ease. For example, a lot of people do their food shopping online, but that’s only because traipsing around the supermarket on the hunt for bread and crisps is about as much fun as standing in the line for the paint drying museum. We think that coffee goes past its consumption. It is more than just fuel. There’s nothing quite like the rich earthiness of a good, ground Arabica in the morning (with the possible exception of napalm). Braving the cold and then queuing for your coffee in the little paper cup with your misspelt name on it is all part of the ritual. At a coffee shop there are so many scents and sights to take in, so many weird and wonderful people to ignore as you thumb through your smartphone desperately trying to connect with a world that just won’t slow down.
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has described the move towards delivering coffee as ‘e-commerce on steroids.’ That makes for a good soundbite, but when he gets his first lukewarm, watery beverage for a ‘Mr Shooltz’ he’ll be daydreaming about the brick and mortar sales he wants to leave behind.
At Buongusto, we know you enjoy your coffee because of what you're drinking, not how quickly you're drinking it!
Whether you like freshly ground Coffee Beans, ESE Coffee Pods or Nespresso Capulses, visit our product page to see how we can become part of your morning ritual.
