In 1983, Howard Schultz Visited Italy and Observed Espresso Bar Culture: That Experience Shaped Starbucks Into a Global Brand

In 1983, Schultz went to Italy, where he discovered an experience that had no equivalent in the USA at that time. Espresso bars were not places for purchasing beverages in Milan. Instead, they were parts of ordinary life. Visitors stopped there briefly, interacted with baristas, stood behind counters, and completed their tasks in a rhythmical manner. Reporting in The Guardian states that this became an epiphany for Schultz, who realized that he was not only tasting a product but experiencing its consumption. This experience differed significantly from American reality, where coffee culture was more transactional in nature. Beverages were purchased and consumed quickly without any significant focus on socialization.

From a business research perspective, this difference was critical. The literature on the topic states that consumer environments play essential roles in generating value. For example, the Journal of Consumer Research emphasizes the idea that retail spaces provide unique opportunities for creating value beyond product transactions. In essence, Schultz discovered an opportunity to generate value through providing consumers with an environment. He found an opportunity to develop coffee consumption into a habit and a lifestyle that involved routine actions, pleasant environments, and social interactions.

Translating a Cultural Habit Into a Business Model

It was not only about imitating what had already been achieved in Italy. The matter at hand was making the right adaptation to a new market situation. As reported by the Associated Press, Schultz’s visit of 1983 proved to be the inspiration for further expansion of the company, which did not try to emulate precisely the Italian culture of coffee consumption, but found ways to translate it to a new setting. In order to achieve that, a series of measures had to be taken. The first and foremost among them was designing the stores in such a way as to ensure visitors stayed there instead of just grabbing their drinks on the run.

As shown by the research published in the Harvard Business Review, global companies succeed when they manage to transplant the essence of a good idea to another culture, instead of replicating it in its original form. For example, Starbucks succeeded because it did not focus on replicating the actual espresso bar; it focused on its feeling instead. As a result, Starbucks managed to create a hybrid that was familiar but at the same time unique and different from what people had before.

Why the Story Still Holds Up

The significance of Schultz’s visit in 1983 lies in its association with both an iconic global brand and an instance of personal observation. The visit illustrates the potential impact that an experience can have when it provides some basic insight into human nature. In fact, studies published in the Strategic Management Journal point out that firms founded on the basis of experiential value have greater chances of customer loyalty than those relying on any other factor. The emphasis on atmosphere and routine at Starbucks is a good illustration of this principle.

The deliberate postponement of opening the firm’s first Italian location, according to Associated Press accounts, also serves as a reminder that the firm was capable of seeing the difference between being inspired and replicating the original experience.