星巴克(STARBUCKS)風潮如何影響台灣新舊咖啡文化

盧嘉琦 張文珍

The Third Place--STARBUCKS COFFEE

This is not a commercial. This is a current. STARBUCKS, the coffee shop that promotes its deep-roasted coffee as the main goodwill, has recently become the popular pronoun of not only “coffee” but also “modern” right now in Taiwan.

STARBUCKS began its business roasting and selling coffee beans, and it was not that popular at that time in America (1971-1987). Howard Schultz was the person who made it right. In his hands, STARBUCKS was turned into a coffee shop, a place where people can sit and chat with others, and a space where people can enjoy both coffee and sociality. The sign of STARBUCKS is green and white, with a mermaid in an oval-shaped center. The color green is used to give off a feeling of vivacity when decorating the storefronts. Gradually, STARBUCKS has become one of the symbols of American way of life. The green mermaid trademark often appears in TV shows and movies. The terminology used by STARBUCKS has also become the new lexicon for 90s’ America: “grande” means a big cup of coffee, “tall” means a middle size cup of coffee, and “short” means the small size. People started to regard STARBUCKS as ‘the third place”, which means STARBUCKS is a place that people can go to other than their own house and their workplace. Anyhow, STARBUCKS has created the image of being part of everyone’s living room, and it has reached Taiwan.

Actually the culture of drinking coffee is not new to Taiwan. In 1956, Fong Da Coffee was founded in the Hsimenting neighborhood to offer "gourmet coffee" since well before the term even existed (on line Taipei Times Sep. 28th, 2001). But it is not like any coffee shop in the west because Fong Da also offers traditional Taiwanese cakes and pastries, including a delicious almond shortcake, walnut cookies, green bean paste cakes and, for the Mid-Autumn Festival, an array of mooncakes. The manager Cao Chih-guang explains that they wanted to give people who seldom drink coffee a chance to try it. Briefly, people regarded coffee as a really high-priced enjoyment at that time. Coffee is expensive and the taste of coffee is not so familiar. As time went by, Taiwan has become much more affected by western culture in the last ten years, and the culture of coffee has also expanded. Many coffee shops came into existence, especially the chain stores. IS, DOUTOR, BARISTA COFFEE, and more are counted. In this competitive market, STARBUCKS still wins most people’s hearts. (According to the statistics, STARBUCKS occupies almost 12% of the market, and the specialists all predict more room for growth.)

STARBUCKS opened its first Taiwanese branch in Tien-Mu in 1998. Now we already have 82 STARBUCKS on this small island. What is this magic that STARBUCKS exerts on us, who are culturally accustomed to enjoying tea in our daily lives? STARBUCKS claims that it offers the public the best coffee beans. Some consumers think its beans are deeply roasted to make the coffee taste more luscious. The rich espresso and the sweet milk make Latte and Cappuccino taste really good. Many people think the coffee is suitable even for little kids.

Most of the STARBUCKS are located in the Taipei megalopolis. The image of Taipei is busy, crowed, and modern. STARBUCKS offers the spiritual fulfillment to many people. People like to go there to enjoy the jazz music. They think they can trust STARBUCKS’ every cup of coffee to be really tasty. The way people in Taiwan use STARBUCKS make them really modern creations, almost like New Yorkers. Businessmen talk over their business with coffee in hand. Students do their research there. Women gossip there. Pedestrians walk with a cup of STARBUCKS in hands. Everything related to STARBUCKS is popular in Taiwan. But what about the others?

Other coffee shops have also devised their own ways to survive. Some of them have joined the coffee chain stores. Others are insisting on their own unique characteristics. STARBUCKS will continue to change the coffee culture of Taiwan—that is what we are going to witness in the future.