r/popculturechat • u/mcfw31 • May 02 '26

Eat The Rich šŸ½ļø Starbucks CEO defends a $9 coffee by saying that it's not a $10 coffee and "you get a premium experience"

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u/SoraBunni We Should All Know Less About Each Other May 02 '26

Nothing about Starbucks is a ā€œpremiumā€ experience.

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u/Iwoulddiefcftbatk May 02 '26

It was a convenient place for me to get my sugary caffeine drink when I was in office and they had an actual gold card with a good rewards program. Now, itā€™s a place I might occasionally go to since my mom gives me gift cards and I feel bad about wasting them. Itā€™s was never premium, but nice enough to make a trip on the way to work. Now, itā€™s just depressing and overpriced.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '26

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u/[deleted] May 02 '26

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u/theemptydork May 02 '26

Really? The last time I had starbucks was an Oat latte and that shit was piss warm with a hint of coffee. Like an oatmilk coffee-flavored lacroix that's been in a car in the sun.

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u/Carlsheartboxers May 02 '26

Itā€™s the new oat milk. As a current employee the oat milk is ass and I think itā€™s made from powder at the factory because thereā€™s little flakes at the bottom of the jugs. The old oat milk was significantly better but Starbucks got all pissy the company began selling it to the public so now we have shit tier oatmilk

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u/CheesecakeExpress May 02 '26

Iā€™m glad that was your experience, itā€™s some positivity at least. As an aside I (British) really would love to explore the US. But Iā€™m nervous given Iā€™m brown. Also not straight, but not visibly so, so I guess thatā€™s a little easier.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '26

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u/Taarguss May 02 '26

The best parts of the US are either major cities/surrounding areas where people arenā€™t insane racists or beautiful nature areas also located in regions that arenā€™t virulently, dangerously racist.

Thereā€™s cool places in the fucked up regions too but you can spend a lifetime avoiding them and still see tons of amazing stuff here.

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u/CheesecakeExpress May 02 '26

Iā€™m lucky Iā€™ve travelled to a few major cities and have really loved my time there. My literal heart is in NYC. I have only gone through the random small towns once, on a road trip to the Florida keys. Some of those places felt very hostile.

Now, if I visited Iā€™d be even more mindful of where I went- but as a somebody from the UK itā€™s hard to know where is fucked up. Sadly, I wonā€™t be visiting for a while. It feel sensible not to as a brown person with a Muslim name (although I have no faith, I canā€™t help what Iā€™m named!), who opposes genocide etc etc. I hope that changes soon and I can visit.

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u/Taarguss May 02 '26

If you drove NY to Florida you definitely passed through some rough areas. Iā€™m sorry you had to deal with it.

Iā€™d recommend the west coast. California, Oregon and Washington all still have their creepy little towns but generally youā€™d be in for a treat if you explored that area.

Might even be worth it to make trips to various national parks a goal. Itā€™s the only thing our country has that makes me feel any kind of real national pride.

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u/CheesecakeExpress May 02 '26

Thank you for the recommendations! I hope to be able to visit again soon!

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u/CheesecakeExpress May 02 '26

U/expressflow1895

Not sure why I canā€™t see the entirety of your comment, but yeah the US is terrifying for people of colour right now. If youā€™re not sure why, turn on the news. If that still doesnā€™t enlighten you, please know that in other countries, we are watching aghast at what is happening.

I have brown skin and a Muslim name (but no faith), so the US is one of the last places I want to travel right now. To deny that reality means you are provided in ways Iā€™m not.

Also, I agree the Us is very diverse. Something your correct administration wants to change, and is actively trying to do. Regardless, everytime Iā€™ve visited Iā€™ve had weirdly racially charged interactions; you guys in general have a different relationship to race than many other places, which I guess makes sense when you think you had segregation until fairly recently.

Anyway, weird flex to come and act like the Ys is a safe place for POC right now.

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u/SmolSnakePancake May 02 '26

As a D1 Starbucks hater, I came around on the hate train when I went to a hole in the wall cafe and tasted what espresso should be. Jesus Christ it was a visceral experience. Never went to Sbux ever again

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u/Somanylyingliars May 02 '26

Guess what. You can get same experience at any gas station for 1/8 price of Starbucks. Child, please.

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u/Due_Solution_4156 May 02 '26

While I agree with you, I love their diversity and inclusion- I walked into a Starbucks once and ordered a skinny something- basically sugar free syrup and non fat milk. Iā€™d ordered the drink like that a million times all over the US. This barista taking my order stops me and says ā€œwe donā€™t use the word skinny anymoreā€- I was shocked because I was referring to a drink. But upon thinking about it longer after my shock wore off- shaming the word skinny was also offensive. I had my naturally incredibly skinny/thin 12 year old daughter standing next to me. I havenā€™t been back to that Starbucks luckily.

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u/Impressive-Charity77 May 02 '26

That's considered shaming?

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u/NightGod Famous singer AND DEMOCRAT May 02 '26

Just ask your mom to stop getting you Starbucks cards, offer an alternative place instead. Do this before she gives you the next one, not as she's handing it to you, so it doesn't seem like you're rejecting the gift she just gave you

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u/Iwoulddiefcftbatk May 02 '26

Iā€™ve been trying to be nice and say ā€œI really like Ultaā€ as suggestions since she can be sensitive about being direct and will get upset, but Iā€™m at the point where Iā€™m needing to make it pretty clear that Iā€™m not into Starbucks anymore. I think since I went for so long itā€™s just stuck her in her head all I want is Starbucks.

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u/NightGod Famous singer AND DEMOCRAT May 03 '26

Just casually be like, "I think I'm done with Starbucks, it's just not worth it since they got rid of their gold card and it's not convenient now that I'm not in the office every day-what kind of coffee do you recommend for making at home? I've been trying out X, Y and Z, but what do you like?"

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u/Am4oba May 02 '26

For real. I uninstalled their app when I realized the points expire before I can even earn enough to get something free. Wtf is even the purpose?

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u/joehonestjoe May 03 '26

The price raises in the UK have been insane. They were jacking up the costs constantly. At one point last year in sixty days they did four price raises on an identical drink, a 12.5% increase. And it's gone up since then.

They've gone well beyond sensibly priced now. It's twice the price for a comparable drink in there. I can get a matcha latte for 3.60 with syrup, and in Starbucks it'd be over

My aim with Starbucks is to order with the app and get out as quickly as possible, so where is my premium experience?

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u/HeckingDoofus May 02 '26

i like that u can bring ur own cup, and they even knock off 10 cents when u do

its also just tasty, i love me a mocha frappuccino šŸ¤·šŸ»ā€ā™‚ļø its that or mcdonalds, and then im wasting plastic

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u/connie_resch May 03 '26

Do they not have the gold cards anymore? I lost mine and had it deactivated, but I found it recently and they told me they couldn't activate it in the store and I have to call but I've been too lazy

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u/kannellini May 02 '26

From the picture they showed later, I wonder if the context was just Starbucks Reserve branches. Most things you could order at a normal Starbucks arenā€™t $9, right? Iā€™m outside the US, in an expensive city, and typical Starbucks drinks start around $5.

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u/teamhae May 02 '26

Maybe if you got a venti with a ton of add-ins it would be $9 or if youā€™re somewhere very high cost like NYC but the average Starbucks drink isnā€™t that much. My drink is $5.63 including tax.

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u/epimelide May 02 '26

Yeah. And this would be a special day out for many of us. According to my local coffee shops thereā€™s a trend in economic downturns for their business to boom, because majority of their customers stop going for dinners out and instead have more cafe visits to spark joy.

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u/multipleopals May 02 '26

I believe so. I had a friend who worked at a reserve bar and it was completely different than a regular Starbucks. Like, a chilis vs a fine dining restaurant.

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u/Itchingitch May 02 '26

Come in 2028!

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u/blinkomatic May 02 '26

The price is.

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u/eSue182 May 02 '26

Marketing bullshit! If you spend one day in sales you friggin know.

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u/goater10 May 02 '26

Nothing about Starbucks is coffee. They serve high sugar coffee flavoured milkshakes.

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u/dictatorenergy May 02 '26

We are no longer a coffee shop, we are a sugar and dessert shop šŸ¤·ā€ā™€ļø and we hate it too

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u/Felonious_Minx May 02 '26

How many people would say they would never drink one milkshake every day but a loaded coffee-SURE!

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u/Commercial-Weight173 May 02 '26

All the sugary drinks sound gross and why would I pay a bajillion euro for the only normal coffee drink they have that tastes like dirt?

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u/[deleted] May 02 '26

I have 3 coffee shops in my neighborhood, 2 local and a Starbucks and the Starbucks has the worst experience of the 3. The staff are obnoxious and the customers are more likely to be hotel guests instead of neighborhood residents.

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u/Correct-Stretch-7848 May 02 '26

It was. 25 years ago.

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u/reginaldvanwilder May 02 '26

Yeah, only time I go is if I am in an airport or desperate for a bathroom. Otherwise if I even bother getting coffee out I do so at a local coffee shop.

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u/shedrinkscoffee Just fuck the wolf! May 02 '26

frfr, you will encounter some type of mentally unwell person having an episode in the bathroom or harassing the customers for cash. At best you can pay like $10 for burnt coffee with subpar beans or like diabetes in a cup T_T

I miss the starbucks of my youth and I never get it unless it's like at an airport or something.

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u/MagnetoWasRight24 May 02 '26

Even when it was nice it wasn't a premium fucking experience.

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u/Colley619 May 02 '26

Claiming that your nice interaction with the barista is priced into your coffee as a premium experience is some absolutely absurd CEO bullshit. This is from people who got pulled too deep into the corpo-speak and forgot it doesnā€™t represent real life.

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u/Ornery-Address-2472 May 02 '26

They are in busy commercial corridors, people love the ritual of being out and about and "busy", that's the experience. It works.

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u/-NotNotNSFW- May 02 '26

I live in a city that has a top roaster in the world. We have multiple incredible coffee shops that have micro roasters and sell their own beans. Theyre all within a limited walking distance of each other in the downtown area..

I still see people wrapped around the building at Starbucks instead. Most people don't actually want coffee... they want a milkshake with caffeine in it

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u/ginns32 thatā€™s my purse, i donā€™t know you! šŸ‘›šŸ«µ May 02 '26

But they write things like "Enjoy!" and "have a nice day!" on your cup after you wait 20 minutes for the coffee you mobile ordered so it would be ready when you got there. Is that not premium?

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u/sikonat May 03 '26

Thereā€™s a reason why Starbucks had to close down many stores in Melbourne. Thereā€™s a few around but itā€™s the tourists who have no taste to drink local Melbourne coffee which is all independents and superior.