We’re still traveling through the Starbucks world with this blog! Next stop, Switzerland! Our featured Starbucks is located in Canton Basel and it is the “Centralbahnplatz Starbucks,” which roughly translates into “Central Train Station Starbucks.” I owe a big thank you to Sebastian Birr who not only took the amazing pics for this blog post, but also gathered a lot of information for me about the Starbucks operations in Switzerland. For German speakers, or anyone interested, there is a major Starbucks Switzerland Facebook page. There is also an official Starbucks.com page for Switzerland which can be viewed in French, German, or English.
Starbucks has a very dense market in Switzerland. The Fiscal 2009 Annual Shareholder Report says that there are 47 Starbucks operating in Switzerland. Sebastian tells me that a new store opened recently (the “Stücki Einkaufszentrum (Mall)” location) with a total of 45 stores in Switzerland. By my count, then, it should be 48 stores in Switzerland but I’m not really sure of the exact number. Most of the Starbucks in Switzerland are located in the capital city of Zurich. In Switzerland, there are Starbucks in Basel, Bern, Geneva, Zurich, St. Gall, Lucerne, Lausanne and Zug.
For those wanting to know more nitty-gritty information about Starbucks and Switzerland, one city that does not have a Starbucks is Winterthur. In a September 27, 2010 Zurich news article, (in the “Tages Anzeiger”) it was reported that Starbucks is actively looking at this city which has a population of greater than 100,000, yet no Starbucks. Apparently the rents are high, and space does not easily become available in the “Altstadt” (the old part of the city). The news article ends on an optimistic note that there may yet be a place for Starbucks in 2013 in this city. The article reports that new construction planned in the Archhöfe region of Winterhur would possibly provide a desirable location for Starbucks.
Back on the topic of our current blog visit to Centralbahnplatz Starbucks in Basel: Sebastian reports that the outdoor seating is large and comfortable, there are a variety of food offerings, but overall the prices are quite high. Be prepared to spend the equivalent of about $20 for a Starbucks City Mug. A Venti Caramel Frappuccino was about $9.00. Some of the food offerings are easily around $7.00. It’s definitely spendy! However looking at the food options shown in these photos, the food looks delicious!
However, we’re not done talking about Starbucks operations in Switzerland. This probably should have been the first thing written in this blog article: Switzerland is THE green coffee-sourcing location for Starbucks. There is an incredibly important corporate green-coffee buying facility located in Lausanne, Switzerland which selects all green beans purchased by Starbucks. Your cup of Kenya in Seattle might have begun in Lausanne, after its birth in Kenya. My friends over at 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea wrote a detailed blog about the Lausanne facility, so if you haven’t read it, check it out:
If you are not following 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea on Twitter, I recommend that you follow them.
If you enjoy reading about Starbucks outside of the United States, take a look at this link here for previous episodes about Starbucks in international markets:
StarbucksMelody.com category: International Starbucks.
Enjoy your quick educational trip to Switzerland! Please feel free to comment. 🙂 Thank you again to Sebastian Birr. (If you are not following him on twitter, I recommend that you do so!)
(The first 7 comments directly in this thread with retweets win one box of Starbucks Flavored Via – I make no promises about which of the 4 flavors.)
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Wow! That’s awesome! This makes me wish I could travel to Starbucks in other countries! The coolest one I’ve ever been to was in San Francisco. Or maybe that was just the coolest place I visited that I also went to Starbucks. 🙂
Also, I really like their menus! Although after the cost to fly there, I’m not sure I’d be able to afford a $9 Frappuccino! But if I traveled to Switzerland, it would totally be worth twenty bucks to pick up a Starbucks mug to serve as proof. Hehe!
Loved the post, as always!
Wow! I can’t believe how expensive products are! Except for city mugs: ours are 19.95$ here in Australia. Is Switzerland licensed? The food does look delicious!
I’ve heard about green purchasing from Switzerland before ~ a SM friend of mine went on an origins trip and was telling me the chief purchaser (can’t remember his name) was there – She said that he was a beacon of information for anything to do with coffee trading! What a cool place to work.
Alas, love your work, as always Mel!
That looks amazing! I wish I could visit, so I could practice my German and study in that lovely Starbucks.
Pencil to paper – me too!! I want to travel and try every starbucks. Actually first, I want to go to Seattle first and go to the original store. But the thought of drinking a 9.00 frapp is well, crazy. Great post, as usual 🙂
I’ve very often heard that things are amazingly expensive in europe, so the pricing craziness in the switzerland store really doesn’t surprise me a whole lot. I do think that just being able to travel there would be amazing in itself 🙂
I really enjoyed reading this Melody. Keep up the good work.
I love your blog! I just want to travel around – meeting people & learning their stories over coffee!
Thanks for helping me find you!
I would LOVE to go to Switzerland and to a Sbux there! It’d be in my top 5 list. When reading about their expensive food and drink…I’m thinking, actually…not so much, at least compared to Chicago. The sandwiches here, which aren’t nearly as good as theirs LOOK, are generally $5.95, add on 10.25+% sales tax (which I assume they don’t have, like much of Europe) and there’s a $7.00 mediocre sandwich. And as for the $9.00 frapp., that too can be done pretty quickly. So, I didn’t find those prices too ridiculous, at least not compared to the Chicago area (which is ridiculous).
Now I have to go back and read every little bit. Loved the pics. Thanx so much for sharing all this!
@Everyone in this thread:
@Linda – Welcome to the blog! I love bringing newbies into our comment community. Yes this little site is addictive even for me … well, probably moreso for me. 😉 @DeniseR – The prices don’t astound me either considering the quality of the food looks so much better than in the US.
*** I was trying to give away Flavored Via with this blog post and I nearly failed at a giveaway. It was a comment plus RT (US & Canada only) was free Via, but most people who replied didn’t RT ***
1. Pencil to Paper – You commented AND retweeted … Was there a flavor of the Via you wanted me to send you??
((Jordon you’re just too dang far away.))
@Diele – You’re not a twitterer. ??? Did you want me to mail you flavored Via? You’re probably drowning in it right now at your store …
2. @AmyB – I know you like Cinnamon Via !! Just click the “tweet this” button on this blog post and you are there.
3. @Elly – Do you want to click “tweet this” and win Via too?
4. @Steve – Same question to you as to others above, click “Tweet” this for the Via prize. It is the large-ish rectangular icon button at the end of the article, just before all the comments start.
5. @Linda – I know your twitter profile too and you did exactly like pencil_to_paper – Retweeted and commented. You are a winner! 🙂 What flavor did you want, if you have a preference? By the way, I think you have a great twitter name – Distinctive! I think you should use it here too. 😉
6. Denise – I don’t want you to be left out, since you’re not on twitter. Do you want me to send you some flavored Via?
And I listed 7 prizes total …
Interesting post as always Melody, I would love to visit this Starbucks just to get the mug to add to my collection. Food looks way yummier than in my local starbucks
Yay another International store tour! I do like these…they are so exotic looking in comparison to the US sometimes. But the price of Frappuccinos…wow!
Thanks for this great blog post, Melody! You did a great job! 😀
Thank you Sebasitan!! I’m glad to have your stamp of approval. Honestly the “Winterthur” article was a little difficult to read, and I had to look up a number of words including “Lage” “Knapp” und “Aufwärtstendenz”. I wasn’t totally sure that I had really understood the ending correctly until after we just now talked, and I’m sooo glad I got it right!
Update on the Via give away:
1. Pencil to Paper – Winner… Was there a flavor of the Via you wanted me to send you??
2. @AmyB – Winner.
3. @Elly – Winner. (lyracole)
4. @Linda – Winner (coolwatyr)
5 Hayley – Winner. (wildflower_eyes)
6. Donna – Winner – (anglophilelibr)
7. Denise – I don’t want you to be left out, since you’re not on twitter. Do you want me to send you some flavored Via?
CONTEST CLOSED
Hi Melody!
I am so very excited! Surprise me as far as flavor! I’m a fan of serendipity. : )
@Melody
The article about Winterthur is very economical and includes lots of collocations. I understand that. 🙂
It’s a beautiful store as the oasis. I want to enjoy coffee in shade of trees.
The consideration to the customer of the store is excellent because the store has a small elevator for a wheelchair. It’s very good!
Thank you Melody.
The person who took these photos puts on a Starbucks cap and wears a shirt of the Apple and may eat Subway sandwich in San Francisco now. LOL
“There is an incredibly important corporate green-coffee buying facility located in Lausanne, Switzerland which selects a phenomenally large percentage of all green beans purchased by Starbucks. ”
I always thought ALL of the green coffee purchasing was done by the SCTC in Switzerland. Where is the other small percentage purchased from?
Great idea for an international trip. Spain, where I live, doesn’t seem to have many Starbucks…
Thank you Sebastian for taking these photographs, and thank you Melody for sharing! I love seeing how different, and yet the same, Starbucks around the world are 🙂
@Nathan – Thank you for catching that. I always assumed that there must be some green bean selection that goes on at the “Seattle Pilot Plant” which is the small roasting facility actually inside the Seattle headquarters – I know they do roast some green beans to a “sample roast” too. But that was probably a bad assumption on my part: Fixed now. I edited that to show ALL now. There is a lot that I don’t know about this process. It’s an amazing process from farmer to cup.
So for example, for the Fair Trade Timor LaRosa’e coffee, (only sold in New Zealand and Australia) I have heard the batches are so small they are roasted at the Seattle Pilot Plant. Does this mean that the farmers send all their beans to Switzerland then to Seattle. Or once we’re buying from them, do they have to re-send sample amounts of beans to Switzerland each year?
This is one more reason why I really want to do a future blog article talking about roasting operations! It’s interesting stuff! So if you are a coffee farmer in Timor, here’s what happens (as I understand it) … You send a sample of your beans to Starbucks in Switzerland. They roast to “sample roast profile” which is usually lighter than final roast profile. They decide if they like the beans. Somehow then Seattle gets a sample of the beans too … forwarded to the SSC. The same process happens again because the coffee experts at the SSC do make some decisions about final roast profiles of beans. They too like the beans … Then farmers send all their beans directly to Seattle?? And the story to me gets more complicated if you’re talking about something common like French Roast, Verona, or any core coffee which might be roasted at anyone of the roasting plants. There must be some really crazy logistics figuring out how to get enough of which green bean to which roasting facility (Carson, York, Kent, Amsterdam roasting facility, etc…). And finally beans eventually get roasted and put in a flavor lock bag and shipped back Australia for sales. ?? The life of a bean makes me a little dizzy!
I really love all of your Starbucks around the world posts! 😀
I’m totally jealous of the food selection. It’s sad that it can be so great (or at least look great) in another country and be so incredibly dismal here. But I’ve found through my travels that Europe is far superior to the U.S. when it comes to ready-made food.
That;s amazing and I’m jealous. Have never been to Switzerland but heard it’s gorgeous! what sorts of drinks did they have on the menu that seemed unique? Retweeted as well but I fear I’m late. lol Oh well I still love your posts since anyone who loves traveling and Starbucks treats is fine by me! 🙂 http://twitter.com/DeeGee13/status/27062878716
@Diele – You’re not a twitterer. ??? Did you want me to mail you flavored Via? You’re probably drowning in it right now at your store …
I have never been on twitter – always seemed like a strange concept. I am indeed swimming in Via. We have to have samples at ALL times at my store from open to close.
@Melody, You’re definitely right that it’s a complicated process. I’m going to have to do some research on this. There’s definitely some things that I don’t know either.
As far as I know, when a farmer wants to sell their coffee to Starbucks, they send what is called an “offer sample” to the SCTC in Switzerland. There is a “green coffee quality team” (not sure if they’re in Switzerland or Seattle) that roasts and cupps the coffee. If the coffee meets Starbucks’ quality standards and the decision is made to purchase it, the SCTC will enter into a contract to purchase the coffee. Before the coffee is shipped, a “pre-shipment sample” is sent to Switzerland. The same team will roast and cup the coffee to ensure that it is the same quality of coffee that they agreed to purchase.
As far as I know, If Starbucks has been buying from a farm for a while, the process basically starts at the contract and the “pre-shipment” sample. I believe that all the green coffee is sent to Switzerland before being distributed elsewhere, but I’m not 100% sure on that.
That food does look yummy!
That IS interesting how the coffee moves about before reaching its final destination. Looking forward to your future post on that (if you are able to do one!).
WoW! I feel the travel bug biting me 😮
A big thank you to both of you for this!
One thing I love when I travel or see these on here, is that starbucks is always starbucks, yet there are little details that are different.
Love that!
Great comfy chairs!
Melody, so sorry I didn’t get back to you! Thanks so much for the thought—I forgot to check the “Notify me of followup comments” box. Oops! Thank you for the coupon! As always, I love your blog!
And, if it’s not too late, I wouldn’t mind trying vanilla or caramel VIA!
Those sandwiches look the BOMB! I don’t know if could keep myself away from the chesecake(Big Golden Girls fan), so It’s good we don’t carry them. ha ha Cool post. Cheers
Thanks for this post. I am an American expat living in Basel and this is my “local” Starbucks! What makes this one really special for me are the Baristas. Most of them are tri- or quadrilingual and sooo very friendly. Even though I know little German, we start the order process in German with lots of smiles and help and eventually switch to English if/when necessary. They are helping me learn German every time I go in. And as with most Starbucks they are really welcoming and make me feel like I’m visiting a friend’s house rather than going to a coffee house! The terrace overlooking the Central tram area is very nice in the warmer months too — a real bonus for this location.
Nice post Melody – and thanks again for the link to my blog. @Nathan has is right in regards to the buying process. The only roasting done at the SCTC is the sample roast for their quality control tasting. Like I said in my blog post, the sample roast profile is considerably lighter than ANY Starbucks roast profile to permit the nuances and subtleties of the single origin beans to be evident. After the bean is selected (whether it be a new single-origin offering, or a kenyan bean that meets the flavor profile of our Kenya blend), it is sent to seattle where there roasting/blending takes place to determine the parameters for which the coffee will be roasted/blended on a large scale at each roasting plant (sort of like the “recipe”). This is, for the most past, done in the 8th floor cupping room. Beans are roasted to a sample roast, tasted individually, tasted blended in different proportions, roasted as blend and then roasted to determine the ultimate roast profile. Once the blend ratio is determined and the roast profile is determined – the recipe is created. The rest is production.
You’ll like my Monday blog post 🙂
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