RISE - Menu Monitor

Starbucks reported for the second quarter ended April 1 net earnings rose 18% to $151 million from $127.3 million for the
same period last year. Revenues increased 20% to $2.3 billion from $1.9 billion. Same-store sales grew 4%. (Company
Release 5/3/07)
Starbucks Corp. made a deal with Ethiopian coffee farmers that will allow the farmers to control the names of their coffees,
including Harar, Sidamo and Yirgacheffe. The deal marks the end of the disagreement the two parties had for the past few
months. The agreement is expected to be signed sometime this month. (Bizjournals.com 5/3/07)
Starbucks teamed with XM Satellite Radio to sell a CD produced by XM with music from its blues channel. The two
companies, along with Concord Music Group, released Bluesville CD on May 15 in Starbucks locations. Artists featured on the
CD include Memphis Slim, Mildred Anderson, Furry Lewis, Sonny Terry. Roosevelt Sykes, Odetta, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Willie
Dixon. (Bizjournals.com 5/8/07)
Starbucks is being challenged by a Spanish startup company called Fon. Fon has been giving away Wi-Fi routers to
Starbucks’ neighbors nationwide under a marketing campaign titled “Fonbucks.” The company’s plan was to get Fon routers
close to Starbucks customers trying to connect to a wireless network. Fon offered them the option of paying $2 a day for Fon
Wi-Fi access or $10 for Starbucks T-Mobile access. Starbucks responded by saying that an increase in Wi-Fi spots was a
good thing and that its T-Mobile HotSpot service allows customers to access the internet in the comfort of Starbucks
coffeehouses in far more locations. (Advertising Age 4/30/07 p10)
Starbucks is being hurt by rising ethanol production. The U.S. ethanol industry will produce more than 5 billion gallons and use
more than 1.5 billion bushels of corn. This, in turn, causes feed to rise, and dairy farmers are finally pushing the costs onto
customers by increasing the price of dairy products. The increased milk bill will surely raise prices for Starbucks customers,
who will stop demanding the coffee. (Forbes.com 5/18/07)
Starbucks gave a $10,000 grant to Biddeford Intermediate School and Loranger Middle School fifth graders to spend the night
at Ferry Beach Ecology School this fall. In addition, $2,500 from the Ecology School’s Program Fund will also fund the trip.
Around 250 students will stay at the school and take part in hands-on lessons at ecosystems including sand dunes, beach and
forest. The students will also have a chance to bond with their classmates, teachers and parent chaperones during the Food
for Thought program during meals. (Maine News Direct 6/7/07)
Starbucks Corp. has agreed to pay $85,000 to settle a lawsuit by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
claiming disability discrimination. The suit was filed after Starbucks fired a Seattle barista with bipolar disorder. It claims that
Starbucks had given Christine Drake extra training and support for more than two years while she worked at a Seattle
Starbucks coffeehouse, but new management for the store stopped the support and fired her. The company agreed to pay
Drake $75,000 and give $10,000 to the Disability Rights Legal Center, which provides lawyers for low-income disabled people
involved in bias lawsuits. In addition, Starbucks agreed to train its managers about illegal discrimination and for the next year,
to notify the EEOC of any disability discrimination complaints involving the company. (NRN Daily NewsFax 6/14/07)
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill is converting its End Zone sports café into a Starbucks by late September. The
university also intends to open either a Subway or a Quiznos by fall 2007. (FoodManagement.com 5/07)
Alpha Airports has signed a deal with Starbucks to open the coffee chain in airports in the U.K. The first store will open in
October at Jersey Airport. (CatererSearch.com 5/14/07)
Starbucks and Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and Restaurant are the only two out of 50 chain restaurants studied that fully
satisfied customer’s need for food quality, speed, cleanliness, friendliness and hospitality. More than 3,000 people were asked
by Kanbay Research Institute to rate chains based on these factors. Though fast-food, casual-dining and upscale restaurants
all experienced declines in consumer satisfaction since the 2005 survey, fast-food chains dipped the least in 2006. (Chicago
Tribune Online 5/19/07)
Starbucks’ label Hear Music will sign Joni Mitchell to sell her comeback album “Shine” in Starbucks’ stores in September. The
album consists of 10 songs, nine of which Mitchell wrote herself. Mitchell is the first of two artists that will be signed this year
by Hear Music. The label plans to sign eight artists in 2008. (Associated Press 7/25/07)
Starbucks has raised the price of all beverages by an average of 9¢ a cup to compensate for the rising costs of dairy products
and other commodities. All 6,300 company-owned stores in the U.S. increased their prices. The coffee chain last increased its
prices in October 2006 by approximately 5¢. Bottled drinks, whole-bean coffee and food items are unaffected by the price
increase. (ABCNews.com 7/24/07; Seeking Alpha 7/24/07)
Starbucks reported for the third quarter ended July 1 net earnings increased 17% to $158.3 million from $145.5 million for the
same period last year. Revenues rose 20% to $2.4 billion from $2.0 million. Same-store sales grew 4%. (Company Release
8/1/07)
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