How did Starbucks become so famous?

Almost everyone is familiar with the popular Starbucks coffee company, but have you ever wondered when this brand started? Starbucks is one of the most famous coffee companies in the world and this is how they began their journey to international fame.

And that’s how the humble origins of Starbucks began …

Today, Seattle is seen as the coffee mecca of the United States, and many other popular brands of gourmet coffee hail from this city. Starbucks began in 1971, where the first Starbucks was opened in the oldest farmers market in the United States, the Pike Place Market in Seattle. The name Starbucks comes from a Moby Dick character, and we’re all more than familiar with their mermaid logo, which they say comes from a Nordic woodcut.

Initially, Starbucks was a local coffee roaster until Howard Schultz became part of the company in 1982 to develop his marketing strategy. Schultz then traveled to Italy, where he was inspired by Italian coffee culture and presented his new ideas to the founders of Starbucks. Starbucks opened its first coffee shop in 1985, which was called Il Giornale, due to its Italian influence. Needless to say, it was a definite success from the start.

When 1987 rolled around, Schultz teamed up with new investors to buy Starbucks and open franchises in Chicago and Vancouver. 17 more stores were opened in that year alone. There were 165 Starbucks coffee shops in 1992, which was when the company went public with shares available through NASDAQ. Starbucks introduced its first European location in Zürich, Switzerland, in March 2001. Starbucks is now found in 30 countries around the world and numbers more than 9,000 cafes.

Starbucks hopes to create a positive outcome in the world of coffee by donating to charities; however, many people have criticized them for the amount of waste they generate each year from the millions of paper cups of coffee they serve. The Starbucks Foundation was introduced in 1997 to fund literacy programs in Canada and the United States, and they continue to provide support by giving coffee communities, training young leaders, providing access to clean water, and promoting better education in China. They have also taken the opportunity to establish the COAST fund to offer assistance to rebuild the Gulf Coast after the devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

In response to criticism of Starbucks for the waste they generate, Starbucks has taken steps to reduce the amount of waste its coffees generate through recycling. This is a very big issue for Starbucks and Starbucks customers, and they have taken into account all the criticism they received about recycling their paper coffee cups. They have set a goal for 2015 to have recycling available at all store locations to collect waste and also serve espresso drinks in reusable cups for 25% of their beverages sold. This is a pretty lofty goal, and we can only wish Starbucks the best in their future endeavors …