Poor Farmer

(l. to r.): Robert F. Bukaty / AP; Karen Bleier / AFP / Getty By BILL TANCER TIME January 10, 2008 Over my morning coffee (a grande nonfat latte), I read the news this week that a battle is brewing between Starbucks and McDonald's. According to the story, McDonald's is planning to capitalize on the public's willingness to pay $4 for a cup of coffee by hiring baristas and dropping espresso machines in 14,000 of their fast-food outlets. Meanwhile, Starbucks, with business lagging, is fighting back with an "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" strategy, by offering heated breakfast sandwiches and adding drive-thru windows to some of their locations. I've always thought of these two chains as polar opposites — one designed as a sophisticated faux living room where customers could get a decent coffee drink and read their newspapers; the other, a riot of plastic-and-vinyl booths and bright fluorescent lighting where meals are counted in billions served. I wo...

SBUX vs. MCD 1-yr chart - Seeking Alpha By Bill Conerly Syndicated from Seeking Alpha blog January 09, 2008 I've used Starbucks' ( SBUX ) business strategy as a way to discuss the Trial and Error Economy. I'm not, by any means, the world's greatest expert on the company, but it provides a great vehicle for teaching about corporate strategy. Now, according to the Wall Street Journal, McDonald's ( MCD ) will sell premium coffee drinks made by baristas at most of their 14,000 stores. How should Starbucks react to the McDonald's threat? Here are some ways: 1. Do nothing. Best implemented with one's nose high in the air, saying that Starbucks customers would never buy coffee at McDonald's. Would work very well for three to six months. Ignores the reality that Starbucks' recent growth has come not from Volvo-driving college grads, but from lower-income, less educated people than they originally served. These are people comfortable at McDonald's. 2....

Trouble has been brewing for some time at iconic global coffee chain Starbucks' rapid expansion — which included outlets in Barnes and Nobles bookstores, product distribution in supermarkets and its own record label — has watered down growth in overall traffic. Alex Hofford / EPA Analysis By John W. Schoen MSNBC January 08, 2008 Is it the coffee? Or too many outlets? Or are cash-strapped latte drinkers simply having second thoughts about shelling out $4 for a caffeine fix that they can get from a fast-food chain for a lot less? Those are some of the questions facing Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz as he returns to his old job as CEO to try to revive a company whose phenomenal growth and customer focus once made it the darling of investors, business school professors and consumers looking for a little bit of luxury from their daily coffee routine. Buffeted by higher costs, rapid store expansion, improved offerings at fast food competitors like McDonald's, and pressure on consu...

Starbucks's chairman Howard Schultz speaks during an interview with Reuters in Mexico City September 7, 2007. Starbucks Corp on Monday said its chief executive, Jim Donald, is leaving the company, effective immediately. Schultz, the coffee shop chain's founder and chairman, will take on the CEO role. REUTERS/Henry Romero By Nichola Groom Reuters January 7, 2008 LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp announced on Monday the immediate return of founder Howard Schultz as chief executive and the slowing of an aggressive U.S. expansion in a shake-up that sent its battered shares up nearly 7 percent. The move marks the return to daily management of the well-liked chairman, who is seen as the conscience of the company after he warned a year ago that Starbucks was losing its way. Investors have nearly halved the value of the world's biggest coffee chain to $13 billion in the last year in the midst of weak U.S. sales growth and encroachment by competitors. "The most serious ...

Cartons of McDonald's premium ground coffee are stacked up at the packaging line in Vernon, California March 26, 2007. McDonald's Corp is set to launch coffee bars with "baristas" serving cappuccinos and lattes, moving into direct competition with global coffee chain Starbucks Corp., The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. REUTERS/Fred Prouser Reuters January 7, 2008 NEW YORK (Reuters) - McDonald's Corp is set to launch coffee bars with "baristas" serving cappuccinos and lattes, moving into direct competition with global coffee chain Starbucks Corp., The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. McDonald's will install coffee bars at its 14,000 U.S. stores, incorporating theatrics similar to Starbucks' counters, displaying espresso machines and having baristas prepare drinks, the report said. The report, citing internal documents from 2007, said the move will add $1 billion to McDonald's annual sales of $21.6 billion. McDonald's will a...

Patrons sit inside a Starbucks in New York, Nov. 16, 2007. Photographer: Robert Caplin/Bloomberg News - Bloomberg By Duane D. Stanford Bloomberg January 02, 2007 Starbucks Corp., whose shares last year had the biggest annual decline ever, fell the most in 17 months in New York trading after Bear Stearns & Co. lowered its recommendation on the stock. The firm cut its rating on Starbucks shares to ``peer perform'' from ``outperform'' on concern that a decline in sales and higher food costs will hurt profitability at the world's largest chain of coffee shops. Seattle-based Starbucks has expanded its customer base to include ``less affluent'' coffee drinkers ``who react to economic pressures,'' Joseph Buckley, a Bear Stearns analyst in New York, wrote in a note to investors today. ``Dairy costs also remain stubbornly high and are likely to continue to significantly pressure margins in the March and possibly June quarters.'' The downgrade w...

By Tesfa-alem Tekle Sudan Tribune January 01, 2008 (ADDIS ABABA) — The Ministry of Trade and Industry said some 443.7 million USD has been earned from exported items in the last five months. "The income just collected is a 29% increase compared to an income collected last year over the same period of time" Public Relation Head with the Ministry,Haile Abebe said. He said coffee, oils seeds, khat, cereals, leather and leather products, gold and cut flowers have generated the highest earnings respectively. According to the Ministry Ethiopia expects to earn 1.7 billion USD income this Ethiopian budget year. The head said" 46,310 tons of coffee has been exported to various countries and brought 127 million USD." The volume of cotton, cereals, tantalum and beef and meat and cattle exported in the reported period shown a remarkable increase from the target set for the period. Hailu added. Ethiopia’s export trade is increasing at a high rate in the last three years and the ...