BEIJING, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- Recently, Starbucks, which has always advertised the implementation of the "gold standard", has overturned due to the exposure of Wuxi stores for privately changing ingredient labels and using expired ingredients.
Although Starbucks closed the two stores involved, the regulatory authorities found that among the other 82 Starbucks stores in Wuxi, there were 15 problems such as employees not wearing work hats, messy placement of items in the processing area, and incomplete disinfection records.
What happened to Starbucks?
Internal oversight failures
Unlike previous brand franchise stores that have food safety problems, Starbucks' more than 5,300 stores in China are all directly operated stores.
"Compared with franchised chains, the advantage of direct chains is that they are highly controllable, because their systems, frameworks, and operating models are unified." Jiang Zezhong, a professor at the Capital University of Economics and Business and a researcher at the Research Center for Private Enterprises of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that in addition to controllability, direct chains also have scale advantages such as low cost, strong execution, and convenient unified training for employees.
Data map: A Starbucks store in Guangzhou. Photo by Cheng Jingwei
However, the internal monitoring of the advantages of starbucks direct operation model has "failed".
According to Starbucks' regulations, its stores are required to conduct daily food safety self-inspections, while the management team and food safety team regularly conduct internal audits of regional stores. Each store is subject to a third-party raid at least once a year, and 20% of stores undergo a second flight inspection.
In the Wuxi store, although there is a superior inspection every half a month, because there is only one inspector, the clerk has enough time to dispose of expired ingredients before the inspectors find out, or quickly change into a new shelf life label.
Jiang Zezhong also believes that the so-called "flight inspection" is cyclical, and the store actually has a gap in actual operation. "From the perspective of operation and management, enterprises can consider using 'internal customers' and social supervision to strengthen supervision."
High price = high quality?
Although Starbucks' food safety problems have been "hammered", the comments under its Weibo have been disturbed.
When many netizens accused its 40 yuan cup of coffee but used expired ingredients, some people constantly emphasized that "Starbucks' high standards for food safety are industry benchmarks, and this time should be an individual case." "Thirty or forty yuan is sold for brand value, and tens of thousands of stores around the world are not opened for free."
Why are netizens' comments so divided?
As a coffee brand that takes the high-end route, drinking Starbucks seems to have become a symbol of consumption power, many people more or less have some "Starbucks complex", some netizens joked: "My old public office has a gold card, there is nothing to do at work, I also respect him as a Starbucks shareholder." ”
A consumer who works at a large company told China News Network that when his colleagues ask each other for coffee, they only order Starbucks. "I don't feel embarrassed to do anything else."
Data chart: Photo by Liu Xiao
For the admiration of consumers, Starbucks has also always emphasized its own "high price and high quality". Its official website clearly states: "Starbucks has always taken the 'humanistic spirit' as the starting point and tirelessly provided customers with a high-quality coffee experience, and food safety is the cornerstone of all this." "Based on the industry's highest standards, we develop and strictly implement Starbucks gold food safety standards."
However, driven by interests, Starbucks stores use expired ingredients with peace of mind on the grounds that "the company wants to assess the turnover and profit margin of the store, and if the cost of ingredients is too high, these data will not look good".
Will Starbucks' brand status shake?
Ai media consulting data show that in 2021, the size of China's coffee market is about 381.7 billion yuan, coffee is gradually popularized in the lives of Chinese consumers, and China's coffee market has entered a stage of rapid development, and it is expected that the scale of China's coffee market will reach 1,000 billion yuan in 2025.
China has also become Starbucks' fastest growing and largest market. Starbucks's financial report shows that its global revenue exceeded $29 billion in 2021, an increase of about 23.6% year-on-year. Among them, comparable store sales in the Chinese market increased by 17%.
But with it, some consumers have reported that compared with the past, Starbucks's quality control is declining: "In recent years, the hygiene on the table has been poor, the service and speech skills have been almost nothing, and the drinks have been made mainly, and they do not pay attention to the taste." ”
"In recent years, the domestic coffee industry has developed rapidly, and its alternatives are also squeezing out its original market, such as tea restaurants with lower prices." Jiang Zezhong pointed out that for Starbucks, the market competition pressure it faces is still very large.
"If a brand wants to adhere to its own brand influence, it must adhere to its own brand connotation." For the food industry, the freshness and quality of food is the most basic connotation. Jiang Zezhong believes that the damage to the brand image caused by food safety issues is immeasurable.
Are you still willing to pay for Starbucks? (End)