History of Starbucks

Starbucks began in 1971 as one of many grassroots batch roasting firms started by idealistic, dedicated baby boomers rediscovering the joys of coffee made from freshly roasted, high quality Arabica beans.

Three Seattle friends started the company – Gordon Bowker, Jerry Baldwin, and Zev Siegl. Bowler was a writer, Baldwin was an English teacher and Siegl was a history teacher.

The original name of the first store, opened in 1971, was Starbucks Coffee, Tea and Spices. Starbucks was named after Starbuck, first mate of the whaleship Pequod in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.

By the time Siegl sold out in 1980, Starbucks had six retail outlets and was selling beans wholesale or restaurant and supermarkets.

In 1984, Starbucks bought out Peet’s Coffee and Tea. Jerry Baldwin decided to focus on Peet’s selling Starbucks for $3,800,000 to Howard Schultz, his former head of marketing.

On April 6, 1986, the first Italian-style II Giornale coffeehouse opened. It was tiny, 700-square food store near the main entrance to Seattle’s tallest building.

On its first day of business, almost 300 customers stopped by. Within six months of opening, it was serving 1,000 customers a day.

In addition to opening stores in the United Sates, Starbucks expanded abroad to Canada in 1987, Japan (1996), the United Kingdom (1998) and then to Continental Europe and the Middle East.

Starbucks opened its first store in China in 1999. By 2010, the company had 400 stores in China and400 more in Hong Kong.

In May 1998, Starbucks acquired the Seattle Coffee Company. At the time of the purchase it had 56 retail units.

By 2005, Starbucks had 469 stores in the United Kingdom, which made it the third largest countries, after the United States and Japan, to serve Starbucks coffee.
History of Starbucks

Business history of Frappuccino

Frappuccino is a registered trademark of Starbucks Coffee.

It was invented by George Howell from Coffee Connection. It made with coffee, evaporated milk, and ice. 

The name is rooted in New England. The term frappuccino is a blend of frappe, a coffee based milkshake, and cappuccino, the Italian drink with a milky topping.

Similar frozen drinks were served starting in 1988 by the Seattle chain Cinnabon under the names Mochalatta and Caramelatta.

By end of 1994, Starbucks decided to launch new product nationwide under Frappuccino brand. The name was used for a cold drink that was offered in Coffee Connection in Boston.

Starbucks purchased the Coffee Connection chain, took over the recipe for the frappuccino and made it global sensation.

In 1995, the company launched Frappuccino, sweet, cold creamy, drink combining coffee, milk and ice. From the start, Frappuccinos were a big hit paving the way from Starbucks’ burst deep into mainstream and its record run of rising revenues, soaring stock prices and new store openings.

In its first full years on the market, the beverage accounted for $52 million in revenues or about 7 % of the company total.

Later with joint venture between Starbucks and Pepsi Cola the bottled version was developed. By 1998, bottled Frappuccino was the most popular ready to drink coffee in the United States.
Business history of Frappuccino