Will the Cafezinho become a Venti?

Will the Cafezinho become a Venti?
By Marion Geiger

BOSTON--Until the stock market crash of 1929, Brazil monopolized the coffee industry. Despite the difficulties in maintaining prices and losing business throughout the twentieth century, Brazil continues to be the largest coffee producer, controlling about 30% of the world market and coming in second to the United States of America in consumption.

Is it possible that the American coffee franchise, Starbucks, will have the same success in the coffee superpower of Brazil as it has in the U.S.? Is this a coals to Newcastle situation or, scarier to some people, will the spread of Starbucks replace the already-established coffee culture?

In December of 2006, Starbucks opened its first two Brazilian stores in the mall, Shopping Morumbi. Seventeen months later, they have eight stores around the city, which are all strategically located in upscale neighborhoods or malls where those willing to pay $6 for coffee will be.

In a press release by Starbucks on November 30, 2006, the president of Starbucks Coffee International, Martin Coles, said, “São Paulo will serve as a springboard for Starbucks strategic expansion into Brazil – a country with a very rich coffee heritage and tradition that we greatly cherish and respect.”

Maria Luiza Rodenbeck was the first general manager for Starbucks after her holding company, Cafés Sereias do Brasil signed a joint venture with Starbucks International. She and her husband Peter Rodenbeck worked together on both Cafés Sereias do Brasil and Starbucks. Maria Luiza Rodenbeck died on December 10, 2007 in a tragic car accident. Since then, Peter Rodenbeck has taken over the businesses.

Peter Rodenbeck first entered the international franchising world in 1979 when he introduced McDonalds to Brazil, which has remained successful for 29 years. Rodenbeck has also helped introduce Outback Steakhouse to Brazil.

A short woman with curly hair and a small, square, disorganized office, Regina Cati, a professor of economics at Boston University who based much of her studies on Brazilian coffee and economics, talks about the influence of immigrants on the growth of coffee. The 3 million poor, northern Italian immigrants of the late 1800s caused a strong Italian influence in Brazilian coffee production says Cati, speaking in Portuguese.

“Ever since I was a little girl I’ve been drinking good quality coffee with milk,” she says as she points out how differently American coffee drinkers think of coffee compared to Brazilians. Americans may think of it as their caffeine kick; while Brazilians may use it for the same reason, they do not think of it that way when they drink an espresso at 11 p.m. after dinner. “I can’t imagine Brazilians walking around with that bucket of coffee,” she says with a laugh at the thought of how enormous a large coffee (venti) at Starbucks is compared to the typical cafezinho (little coffee) that most Brazilians drink.

A coffee mug for sale at Starbucks says "bom dia,"
which means "good morning" in Portuguese.
Photo by Marion Geiger

“I can’t see Brazilians waking up and going to school with a to-go-cup of coffee” says Thiago Mello, 19, a B.U. engineering student from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He was referring to the thousands of college students and professors that drink coffee out of paper cups every morning. He talked about how Rio has warm temperatures year-round, which makes him believe people would not be drawn to Starbucks. He adds, in Portuguese with a Rio de Janeiro accent, “Instead of facing a long line and paying R$10, I can go to the beach, drink coconut water for R$1.50, and then start my day.”

The general manager of Starbucks Brasil, Peter Rodenbeck, says in an email message that Starbucks Brasil gets its coffee “From Starbucks Corporation, who imports from producers around the world and processes the product in Seattle with special processes guaranteeing quality and standardization.”

Bringing her feet down off the desk with her forehead high in disbelief, Cati acts shocked at hearing that Starbucks Brasil imports its coffee from their headquarters in Seattle instead of using “Brazilian coffee which has higher quality.”

“Many of them knew Starbucks from somewhere else in the world,” says Rodenbeck. According to the general manager, this made introducing Starbucks a lot easier because it was already popular through other mediums.

During an online video conference, Marcello Votto, 21, a film student in São Paulo Brasil talked in Portuguese about his initial reaction to Starbucks Brasil, “I found it curious because it proves the force of a brand that ended up famous in Brazil indirectly through media or word of mouth. It also proves globalization and the easy dissemination and influence of a mass culture mostly through media and film.”

Votto also added that the clientele will be “those who frequent the place for the ‘craze’ of going to the famous Starbucks, principally those who appreciate American culture. The elite, definitively.”

Henrique Carvalho Pinto, 20, from São Paulo, Brazil has gone to Starbucks in there a few times. He agrees that Starbucks is going to be contained to an upper-class niche, and says that the benefits are only short term economic boosts. In an email response, he wrote in Portuguese, “By imposing a culture with a more luxurious and exclusive outlook on life, whether it is meant to or not, they are creating a certain exclusivity on the São Paulo streets that is not accessible to everybody (because of the prices and American culture that come with Starbucks), contributing even more to the air of social inequality.”

A São Paulo mathematics and business administration student at B.U., Bruno Weinberg Crocco, 22, does not think the Starbucks experience is going to be the same in Brazil as it is in the U.S. He says “I think Starbucks has a lot of identity. It’s a symbol. It reminds [Brazilians] of the U.S. It’s not going to be a daily thing, it’s going to be that you go there to have fun.” He says that price and quality won’t allow it to achieve the daily routine level. “they should market it as the American Starbucks, not as a Brazilian thing,” he says, because Brazilians are attracted to the image and novelty of it rather than the quality.

To make the adjustment process even easier and attract more customers, Rodenbeck says, “We offer as an alternative espresso coffee, the Brazil Blend, a blend of Brazilian with other Latin American coffees which offers a flavor profile which many customers prefer, and pão de queijo [a Brazilian cheese bread commonly eaten with coffee], savory muffins…and more to come!”

Photo Illustration by Marion Geiger

The challenge was not attracting customers, “The most demanding was the training process which offers us our competitive edge by providing all of our staff with coffee knowledge and a very positive approach to customer service,” says Rodenbeck.

Other Brazilian coffee chains hire a different profile worker, typically low-income servers. Consequently, finding people with the education to be trained in Starbucks’ specific way, and who wanted to work as a Starbucks barista, was one of the hardest tasks for Rodenbeck.

“If you look at their website, they advertise hiring through the site and you have to go to the store to apply; this guarantees a certain level of competence from the candidates” says Crocco in response to his own wondering about how Starbucks would be itself in Brazil if they hired the typical low-income server.

“People are going to be looking for an experience, not the coffee” says Crocco, simplifying what Starbucks Brasil is to many Brazilian consumers.

Although Rodenbeck says, “Brazilians have embraced the little rituals which make up the Starbucks experience, as well as the products and our manner of serving,” it still looks like the cafezinho is safe from being replaced with a venti.