In a move that is sure to make over-stressed coffee drinkers on doctor’s orders to avoid caffeine pop an artery, Starbucks announced today that they will no longer have a fresh brewed pot of decaf waiting for customers after noon. You’ll have to get in line and wait 4 minutes for a new batch, by request only.
Would it not make sense to discontinue decaf completely? I suppose that they have people to run these sorts of numbers…
Jan. 27 (Bloomberg) — Starbucks Corp., the world’s largest coffee chain, will stop continuously brewing decaffeinated coffee after noon as part of a drive to waste less and save $400 million by September.
The company, which last year started brewing fresh pots of coffee every 30 minutes, will have the caffeine-free version available upon request after 12 p.m., the Seattle-based company said today in an e-mailed statement. It takes about four minutes for a fresh cup to brew, spokeswoman Bridget Baker said.
“For many of our stores, the demand for decaf is greatly reduced in the afternoon,” the company said in the statement. “With our current standard of continually brewing decaf after 12 p.m. regardless of demand, we have seen a high amount of waste.”
The company informed baristas of the change yesterday. Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz is accelerating a cost-cutting plan to save $400 million by September from labor and product expenses. The plan includes brewing smaller pots of coffee so that less is wasted if it’s not purchased within the 30-minute time limit.
Starbucks is also closing stores in the U.S. and Australia and trimming waste in other products, such as excess milk in lattes and cappuccinos.
4 Minutes is an awfully long time to wait for a cup of brewed coffee in a fast food restaurant. Pop, pop.