Will Starbucks Take Over the Tea Industry?

by SodaHead News Posted 2012/06/22 19:00:00

Related Topics: Starbucks, tazo, Bar, Headquarters, Seattle

682 votes
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	Yes	178 votes	26%
	No	504 votes	74%

Starbucks is the King of Coffee Shops, but can it expand its empire to include tea, as well? The Seattle-based corporation will launch its first tea bar this year near its headquarters, where customers will be able to choose from more than 80 different types of tea that they can blend together as desired. It's not clear what the bar will be called, but The Huffington Post reports that it will not use the same logo.

So far, Starbucks has not announced any plans to expand the business beyond a single outlet, but they will be teaming up with Tazo, a billion-dollar brand, so chances are there are bigger wheels in motion behind the scenes. Do you think Starbucks can dominate tea like it does coffee, or will this just turn out to be a failed experiment?

+16

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Kirino 2012/06/22 22:00:39

No

+11
Tazo's teas are nothing but crappy over priced tea for hipsters. Now Twinings, can make a good cup of tea.

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manuel 2012/06/25 18:33:24

No

+2
No Starbucks will not take over Tea, because some Teas help you full asleep, and all Starbucks coffee keeps you awake. lol

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Ralph Richards 2012/06/25 18:13:51

No

+2
There are thousands of teas, unlike coffee that only has hundreds of different coffees. Teas would have to be it's own shop and Starbucks can only offer a minor few, the most popular at that.

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Jack to Ralph R... 2012/06/25 19:21:53

Hundreds....think again....what log are you sleeping under?

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Ralph R... to Jack 2012/07/09 21:33:43

okay, thousands and new blends every day that makes the coffee blends overwhelming and why would they want to add too this when they can;t even accomadate the coffee blends that are out there, how would even begin to think of the tea industry which has as many blend or possibly more with new blends being made every day as well.
The answer is still no!

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kofp 2012/06/25 18:10:26

No

+1
Starbucks can't even make good coffee or food, forget about them trying the tea business! Seattle's Best ought to think about acquiring Starbucks since Seattle's Best knows how to make coffee that tastes like something!

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Jack to kofp 2012/06/25 19:22:43

+1
Seattle's Best is OWNED by the same company....BZzzzzzzt. And they taste like crap too. They used to be good before they got bought.

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Rich 2012/06/25 18:02:54

No

+1
Starbuck DOESN'T SUPPORT OUR TROOPS...It going around the internet now....This will cost them big time and probably be out of business soon.....

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Jack to Rich 2012/06/25 19:23:14

They aren't obligated to support troops. You're too full of yourself.

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Bob 2012/06/25 18:00:01

No

+1
God I hope not. There coffee sucks. I'd hate to see them screw up tea.

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gregaj7 2012/06/25 17:51:01

No

+1
Starbuck's is an image, not substance.

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★Calliope★ 2012/06/25 17:45:52

No

+1
Starbucks is to great coffee as fake M&Ms; are to great chocolate.

Why should tea be different?

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★Calliope★ to ★Calliope★ 2012/06/25 17:46:35

And if you are wondering - no, I don't think real M&Ms are great chocolate either.

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Jack to ★Calliope★ 2012/06/25 19:23:44

That made no sense. M&M's are awful.

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★Calliope★ to Jack 2012/06/26 02:41:41 (edited)

uh...

Starbucks coffee is awful.
Fake M&Ms; are awful
Real M&Ms; are awful.

ergo

Their Tea will be awful too.

Not rocket science.

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CoolRanch 2012/06/25 17:45:24

No

+1
I really hope not. When hear Starbucks I want to think coffee not Tea. I don't know it seem like they are trying to be a wanna be Panera Bread

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mneiai 2012/06/25 17:34:34

No

+2
Tea is a bit different than coffee, in general, I think it's harder to mass produce pre-made tea efficiently, as it doesn't normally keep as well as coffee. Added to that, Starbucks hit most of the country with coffee before gourmet coffee shops were common, but now almost all coffee shops do tea of some sort, a lot of cities have just tea shops (cafe style and sitdown restaurant style), and you have places like Teavana where they sell cups of tea, etc.

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Riobhca 2012/06/25 17:32:14 (edited)

No

+1
No way! The teas that they are thinking about serving are garbage. People who love good tea will not go for it.

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the_old_coach 2012/06/25 17:10:00

No

+2
I seriously doubt it.

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KrSpo 2012/06/25 15:19:48

No

+3
They haven't taken over the coffee industry, what makes you think they will take over the tea industry? Just because a company sells coffee at 4 dollars a cup doesn't mean they have the best, nor the most coffee sales. Dunkin Donuts outsells Starbucks by a WIDE margin.

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Bob to KrSpo 2012/06/25 18:02:40

+1
Dunkin Donuts, now that's GOOOOOOOOOD Coffee.

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Jack to KrSpo 2012/06/25 19:24:33

and they suck too.

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KrSpo to Jack 2012/06/25 19:40:26

wow, a whole lotta anger there my friend.

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Bob DiN to KrSpo 2012/06/26 06:08:30

Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds coffee is 10X better at less than half the price.

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politicalsoldier 2012/06/25 14:43:42

Yes

Of course I can't see the future, but I'll throw my hat in at Yes.

Starbucks coffee is nothing to scream at. I've had much better (and do you notice they've really watered it down the last few of years). But, has that stopped them from being at the top? No. They run a strong business model and have great branding and marketing, and that seems to create as much success as would having really good coffee.

They have the capital, the infrastructure, and the experience in creating a strong brand, so yes I believe it will be successful. And if their teas taste better than their watered-down, chain store coffee, then I believe it will really take off.

I hope it does. I hope it takes off and creates jobs.

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intolerantrwj 2012/06/25 13:57:58

Yes

+1
.... Starbucks operates a great biz and I hope this also does well !

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Mark 2012/06/25 13:51:57

No

+2
That's more of a hopeful no. Starbucks has succesfully made coffee bland & beige.

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Nish 2012/06/25 13:34:00

No

+1
No

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Jake Blanton 2012/06/25 13:28:14

No

+2
There's a tea industry?

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flyingseaturtle BN 2012/06/25 13:26:19

No

+1
I like their tea but there is better stuff out there ;-)

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Chris 2012/06/25 08:25:27

No

+3
That will be Snapple's.
Plus who will pay $ 5.00 for a cup of tea.

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Aingean to Chris 2012/06/25 08:26:24

+1
The same people that want to pay 8 or 9 bucks for an doll size cup of espresso. They are nuts....

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Blue Dog 2012/06/25 07:28:24

No

+1
I hope they don't!! They're coffee sucks, can't imagine what they'd do to tea!!!

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Lakota Deviant 2012/06/25 06:55:24

No

+1
I think taking over the industry is a bit much but not a bad idea. I doubt their new tea lounges will be just putting in a Tazo tea bag into hot water. Starbucks isn't stupid look what they did with the coffee industry. Like it or not they exploded and are huge, they are the third biggest food chain in the world and essentially all they do is sell coffee.

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k fleming 2012/06/25 06:47:44

Yes

Man I hope not!
They've already flooded the market with terrible coffee and trained the yuppies to like it so that they won't know good coffee when a local roaster shows it to them.
I'd hate to see it happen to tea!

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Night 2012/06/25 05:47:02

No

+1
Never!

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tiffylani 2012/06/25 05:40:45

Yes

Haven't they already?

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Arisu 2012/06/25 05:07:17 (edited)
wolfshadow 2012/06/25 04:49:49

Yes

+1
Simply because there is NO tea bars anywhere now.... of course they will dominate, they will be the only one. I'd like to try some teas....

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Rio 2012/06/25 04:21:43

No

+1
oh gosh how many more poor tea pickers can they bull-dozer to create their drinkers paradise? @ $$$$ of the blind-eyed consumer.

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Hikari_ice_angel 2012/06/25 04:17:52

No

+1
Tazo's tea sucks. To top it off, it's overly-processed bs since they're tea bags. Want really tea? Drink loose tea. It's far more potent and tastes a lot better.

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