SimplyAbuDhabi XXXVII

The Roasteries in Seattle and Shanghai are certainly impressive, and people, especially Italians, like a little showmanship. But the odds were still stacked against Schultz. Starbucks has been a wild success in almost every country it has entered because it was more luxurious than any other coffee-café brand on the market. In America, it replaced the free-flowing insipid brew you found in diners. In Britain, cappuccino was a Nescafé with a skoosh of St Ivel whipped cream on top before the first Starbucks arrived in 1998. No one met for coffee back then. Italy already has the finest cafes and they serve the best coffee on the planet. What’s more, Italians are obsessive when it comes to their routine. Milanese usually sip a small espresso or, if it’s before 10am, a cappuccino, standing for a minute or two in a tiny coffee shop before work. Schultz insists “most people will choose to sit down and stay” at the Roastery. But it will also – mamma mia! – sell takeaway coffee, a big Italian no-no. By encouraging well-dressed Milanese to brandish branded coffee cups, wouldn’t Schultz be killing the very quality he so admired when he first came to town? “We put the business in the hands of our customer – whatever they want,” he responds. Indeed, he took steps to limit any visual pollution. The takeaway cups at the Milan Roastery aren’t white with the green mermaid logo – they are a chic dark brown, with just the star logo and the letter R in bronze. What about drinks sizes? With the cappuccino, espresso or ristretto, Italians don’t do tall, grande or venti. Some Starbucks coffees here and in the US come in cups that look larger than the human stomach. “We expect the majority of the beverages to be consistent with what the Italians drink. The very large drinks will not be available.” No cappuccinos that are like bedtime milk drinks? “No, no, no.” His tweaks to the tried-and-tested Starbucks formula marked an effort to assimilate a brand that is a byword for US domination and cultural appropriation. But Schultz still has a hill to climb: there are broader cultural problems, too. American brands have a hard time in Italy. More than most European nations, Italy has clung to its distinctive ways, not just its coffee habits. Shoppers are fiercely proud of their home-grown brands because of their deep-rooted family ties and dedication to quality – Barilla, Zegna, Fiat, Armani, Ferrari, Prada, Maserati, Pirelli, Ferragamo, Illy, Lavazza, Luxottica, Riva, Valextra, Safilo – the list goes on. You just have to walk the streets around the new Roastery to find the evidence. In the Quadrilatero della moda, the most desirable fashion quarter in the world, you’ll find Italian, French and British brands, but few American. Ralph Lauren recently closed his flagship store on Via Montenapoleone. McDonald’s got kicked out of Galleria Vittorio Emanuele a few years ago and was replaced by an Italian fashion boutique. But in 2018, despite the odds, Schultz himself opened the doors of the sprawling grand palazzo on Piazza Cordusio, which was once Milan’s central post office, and served his first espresso alla Milanese. “It was the most important personal moment for me and my company,” he says. “This project is like my second love”. Now, the premium Starbucks Roastery is considered the most beautiful and opulent Starbucks on the planet and is highly rated by reviewers. “American companies have had a challenge here,” Schultz concedes. “But I think we’ll be OK. We are a proud American company. I think we will be judged on our merits.” This project is like my second love.” “