Starbucks is "reworking" its food offerings again
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/06/03/starbucks_reworking_baked_goods/

How many times does it take, to get it right?

Sure, the food biz is complicated, but come on now. I must have walked past three dozen small restaurants yesterday. They all had menus and food and customers... even the little guys seem to work it out.

I think Starbucks has a whole other set of problems not related to food.

I'm imagining this change happened only after extensive committee meetings, tastings, conference calls, lots of spreadsheets and Powerpoint decks and expert opinions, driving the latest upheaval in the "not for drinking" department down at 'bucks (is this their fifth reworking of "food" in five years? were there more?).

And this time, oh yes this time is different, they swear. They are going to get it RIGHT this time... so right that they won't have to hold another food reworking in six months, though it seems they've been on the every-six-months plan so long that it may be an unbreakable habit.

OK Starbucks, listen up:
- food isn't about committees or focus groups, NOT EVEN at your size, unless you are McDonalds, and you are not McDonalds
- try sitting down with a nice decaf latte and taking a good hard look around some of your shops
- what would make people happy? Maybe nothing. I've seen your customers.  But think.
- how about your staff? Slacker didn't work so you upgraded them to "fussy.' That only empowered the already-fussy crowd your places draw, to be even more fussy. Bad move. They can't be enjoying this constant turnover of the brand.
- and you're confusing customers with the constant flip flopping.

Back to basics, kid.

Bagel sandwiches are acts of love made at local cafes. They simply do not translate to microwaveable baggies... especially not in your stores where the customers can SEE the prepackaging. And seriously, remember those scones-in-sealed-bags? How appetizing is that? The poor things were suffocating. Don't do that again, please.

Maybe this just cannot be corporatized, averaged out, dumbed down, and made palatable to N-million customers at M-thousand stores in X-hundred distinct markets.

Go local. Let your managers source stuff down the street and let the customers know you're doing it. Let the offerings be different in different stores, to reflect the tastes of the region, or local whims. That'd be good for everyone, if you can avoid meddling from the top. Yes, it may mean constant change. That's ok. The tree outside my window looks a little different every single day, but it has probably stood there, all strong and sturdy-like, for fifty years.

- Jim