What's up on the Barista Exchange?

Starbucks to Team Up with Coinstar

Gourmet coffee giant Starbucks and automated coin-counting company Coinstar Inc. have teamed up to test an automated coffee machine under the Starbucks Seattle's Best Coffee label.

A Coinstar spokeswoman, confirmed the partnership late yesterday but would give few details about the test, such as when it started or where the machines are. She said financial details have not been disclosed.

A description of a prototype machine, along with a picture, is included in a report published Wednesday by Eric Wold, an analyst for Merriman Curhan Ford. In the report, Wold said that the machine is located near an Albertson's store in Bellevue, Wash., which is where Coinstar is based.

Coinstar is known for its network of automated coin-counting machines in supermarkets, malls, airports and other public locations in the U.S. and some foreign countries. Starbucks has said it is interested in developing an automated coffee machine, and even published a picture of one at an analyst meeting several years ago.

The picture published in Wold's report shows a kiosk with the logo of Seattle's Best Coffee, a brand owned by Starbucks. Wold said the kiosk allows customers to purchase anything from a regular cup of coffee to specialized espresso drinks, with prices ranging from $1.30 to $2.55. Wold said he believes the kiosk could provide Starbucks with "the ability to penetrate additional third-party locations with both lower upfront capital costs and ongoing operating costs." Wold said if the prototype develops into an operating business, field service maintenance could likely be provided by Coinstar's existing coin-counting field service team.

Source: Dow Jones

Starbucks has sites on Bulgaria and Portugal

Starbucks plans to open coffee houses in Bulgaria and Portugal next year. The first Bulgarian store will open in the capital city of Sofia, and the first store in Portugal is expected to open in Lisbon, the Seattle-based coffee chain said on Wednesday.

The company did not specify when the stores will open in 2008. Starbucks will work with joint-venture partners in Greece and Spain that help run the company's coffee houses in several other European countries. Its Bulgaria stores will be operated with Athens-based Marinopoulos Group, Starbucks' partner for stores in Greece, Cyprus, Romania, Switzerland and Austria. The expansion into Portugal will fall under Starbucks' partnership with Madrid-based Grupo VIPS, which helps run stores in Spain and France.

Starbucks has more than 15,000 coffee shops worldwide, about 4,300 of them in 42 markets outside the United States.

Source: Dow Jones

Al-Qaeda affiliate burns coffee shop in Gaza Strip

Al-Qaeda affiliated group takes responsibility for setting internet coffee shop ablaze in Gaza Strip as punishment for what they deem unethical behavior. Group threatens others who don't comply with ethical standards.

After the Palestinian branch of al-Qaeda took responsibility for killing a senior Palestinian intelligence officer and four of his escorts three weeks ago, the group again took responsibility for violence in the Gaza Strip. Early Sunday morning, Gunmen shot and set fire to an internet coffee shop in Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip, causing massive damage.

Sunday afternoon an announcement was made claiming that the organization Islamic Swords of Justice, identified as an affiliate of al-Qaeda are responsible for the incident.

In the organization's announcement, it was stated that burning the coffee shop is "part of a series of actions aimed at fighting corruption and the corrupt. During the holy month of Ramadan, our fighters have started operating on the holy land and in the early morning placed a bomb weighing ten kilograms (22 pounds) next to the coffee shop, ridden with corruption and characteristic of the unethical activities that have increased in recent days. Jihad fighters detonated the bomb as a message to all the corrupt people."

Source: Ynet News

The Hooters of Coffee Shops

What goes better with a hot cup of latte? It's skin at Coffee Nation, a small town coffee shop located in Salem, OR, where the baristas serve hot lattes in bikinis. According to Adam Marshall, founder of Coffee Nation, plans are on the table to expand into other areas through franchising.

Starbucks EVP exercises options

The executive vice president of partner resources of coffee retailer Starbucks Corp. exercised options for 40,000 shares of common stock, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

In a Form 4 filed with the SEC Monday, David Pace reported he exercised the options on Thursday and Friday for $15.23 apiece, then sold all 40,000 shares on the same days for $22.84 to $23.66 apiece.

Insiders file Form 4s with the SEC to report transactions in their companies' shares. Open market purchases and sales must be reported within two business days of the transaction.

Source: CNNMoney