Starbucks to raise prices to cover costs

By Mary Jane Credeur
Bloomberg News
Published September 21, 2006

Starbucks Corp., the world's largest coffee-shop chain, plans to raise the price of its coffee by about 5 cents a cup to counter rising employee and energy costs.

The 1.9 percent increase takes effect Oct. 3 and applies to brewed coffee, espresso-based beverages and other drinks, spokeswoman Valerie O'Neil said in an interview today. Starbucks will also raise prices on some packaged whole-bean coffees by about 50 cents per pound, or 3.9 percent.

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Starbucks to double store numbers, says chairman

By Leah Vyse

Starbucks Corporation, the world's leading coffee shop chain, is brewing plans to double its store number in the US, where it currently operates 8,614 outlets.

Speaking at an interview in New York, the Seattle-based coffee giant's chairman, Howard Schultz, said: "[T]he saturation opportunity in the US is not 50% there."

Mr Shultz said the group has a target of operating 30,000 stores internationally; it currently operates over 12,000 stores across 37 countries, with 70% located in the US.

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Why taste for coffee is all in the genes

By Mark Henderson, Science Editor
Times Newspapers Ltd.

A TASTE for espresso in the morning may be genetic, according to research that has identified the first known receptor cells for caffeine.

Scientists have discovered that a single protein determines whether fruit flies eat sugar laced with caffeine or avoid its bitter taste.

It is not yet known whether the gene that controls production of the protein, Gr66a, has a similar effect in humans, but the discovery of a caffeine receptor does suggest that a taste for coffee is likely to be affected by genes.

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Dr. Andrew Weil talks about Green Tea, Black Coffee

From the Magazine | Your Time
By ANDREW WEIL, M.D.

Posted Sunday, Sep. 17, 2006
Coffee or tea? There's a growing body of research to suggest that both are probably good for you.

We've heard a lot about the health benefits of tea, especially green tea...

Coffee is more complicated. It has received both gold stars and black marks in the medical literature. It too contains antioxidants, although they are less well studied than tea polyphenols. Evidence for the health benefits of coffee is growing, however...

In the meantime, enjoy your tea and coffee, get the best quality you can, and know that they are probably doing you more good than harm.

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