4月20日
Opportunity Brewing for STARBUCKS
The world’s leading specialty-coffee retailer’s head honcho discusses business in China
Q. What are some of the differences from doing business in America?
A. Eighty percent of all our business in America is to go. More than 80 percent of all our business in China is people staying in the stores. It has become a primary place for young people to date. I couldn’t walk into a Starbucks store in China and not see a business meeting going on.
And the hours of operation, in terms of when our stores are busiest, is not in the morning, when we’re busiest in America, but in the afternoon or at night.
Q. What’s the most popular drink in China?
A. I think it’s a Caffe Latte, but our Frappuccino business did well because of the hot summer [last year].
Q. How do you handle distribution issues as you expand in China?
A. We have hired people who have that knowledge and experience throughout China and we have brought our own resources to the table. But again, we’re talking about the need to build these kinds of competencies that we have not had before.
One of the things you’ll learn about this kind of growth and development is, metaphorically, if you’re going to build a 100-story skyscraper, you can’t build the foundation while you’re building the building. And so the last two years have been about building the foundation.
Q. Final thoughts?
A. I can’t imagine a more dynamic, larger opportunity than China-if done well. But there is no shortcut to success. You have to be willing to invest ahead of the curve and to be very respectful of the differences of doing business there and [have] the sensitivity that one needs to have to be respectful of that.
Supporting the Worldwide Community
Here are a few of the ways Starbucks stays accountable.
l Starbucks Fair Trade Blend uses coffees from all over the world that are Fair Trade CertifiedTM, ensuring the growers and producers are paid a fair wage.
l The company offers financial support for schools, health clinics and other projects to invest in coffee-growing communities.
l By working with Conservation International, Starbucks encourages growing practices that are ecologically sound and that protect biodiversity.
l Starbucks recycles over a million pounds of burlap bags each year and gives a discount to customers who bring their own mugs to stores.
Specialized Terms
Curve (n) 趋势曲线 a trend derived from data represented on a graph
Vocabulary Focus
To go 外卖
Bring something to the table (idiom) to share an idea or resource
Competency (n) competence, the ability to do something well
Metaphorically (adv) not having real existence, but used symbolically to show some truth about another subject
Biodiversity (n) 生物多样性
Discussion Question
1. Have you tried Starbucks' coffee? If so, how do you like it? If you've never tried it, would you like to? Why or why not?
2. it’s interesting that one host said, ‘If you want to meet foreigner, go to Starbucks’, and she also gave us the example of Starbucks in Shanghai. So, where would you head if you want to meet someone from another country?
说明：
1.文本摘自《Advanced 彭蒙惠英语》，由chandler30亲自录入。
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