Starbucks will no longer run water continuously out of its taps

Starbucks is installing new water faucets in its U.S. stores that will allow the company to save about 150 gallons of water a day at each of its cafes after receiving criticism and as part of a green initiative. || Read "Starbucks to no longer keep water running"

Comments

[GRTL]

We already have them...but let me tell you, having a spoon in each pitcher is a royal pain in the $%@#%#@$

[BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL]

Does anybody really sanitize their pitchers every two hours? My store doesn't and almost every store that I've worked in does not. Ummmmmmmmmm, there this thing called labor, or VTI, to be exact that prevents us from doing so.

[GRTL]

I also just want to throw out there that Starbucks also has a new pricing scheme.

In my district they have decreased the price of Talls by .05 but they have DRAMATICALLY increased the price of Grande and Venti hot drinks.

Example. Coffee...now a Grande cup of coffee costs MORE than a venti cup of coffee used to 2 days ago. a grande cup of coffee here is 1.95 and a venti is now 2.10
A venti used to be 1.85

Is this really the business model we want to use in a recession?

Sorry for the off topic post.

[Barista Ben]

Yeah the spoons in the pitcher is really annoying but I like how much water we will be saving, so I'll just learn to live with it.

[BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL]

I think this will just grow more bacteria. Starbucks has a way of esckewing data in order to achieve their goals.

The end justifies the means.

I can't wait until the shit hits the fan. Or rather, people start shitting their pants.

In other words, people with HIV/AIDS should avoid going to Starbucks because it could be potentially dangerous to your health. But then again did you listen when we told you to wear a condom? NOOOOOO!

[SBUX Alum Bill]

Off-topic, but Starbucks is going to have another competitor in the Iced Coffee market. Don't know anything about the quality of the product, but
this linked article discusses 7-11's large-scale entry into the market.

[nic]

Not everyone contracts aids via unprotected sex and drug use. Your comment was completly out of line. You should be ashamed rebel. I read this page daily I just choose not to comment until now. That was by far the most insenative thing I have read on here.

[Ryan (SS)]

Nic, thanks for commenting on SG for the first time! Sorry that it had to be related to such a controversial and sensitive topic.

I'm curious to see how my store does this. I do agree with BSR on how this is just one more thing that is going to eat the little labor that we already have. We'll see.

[Bean Counter]

Well, apparently Howard's environmental consciousness now trumps overall health and safety of our customers. Under high volume, high stress situations, I wonder how long it will take a partner to forget which spoon was for soy and which was for dairy?? Lawsuit anyone ;);)

[German SM]

Doing this for three months now in Germany - I adjusted within and so did my fellow partners :)

[...]

i guess my store was a test, cause we have been doing it for months. in my high volume store we have 2 2% pitchers, 2 non-fat, 1 soy, 1 for whole milk or breve, and a plethora of backstock pitchers in case we need to pull one out for apple juice or SHC. every two hours we simply rotate to new pitchers and wash the old ones - not that hard or time consuming. if you build good habits, it's not hard to get all assigned tasks done no matter what the VTI.

[GHB]

As far as I'm aware, all the UK stores had turned off their little water taps due to an 'exposé' of sorts by a media tabloid.
Since then, we just quickly run the spoons under the larger water taps or just quickly give them a once over using the 'Rinse' function on the Expresso Machine - which seems to be the unwritten standard over here.

[Kitty]

My district has been testing this for about two months now.

It takes some time to get used to, but in my store, we've adjusted and are now just fine with it. We have two sets of pitchers for everything and every two hours, we swap them, sanitize the old ones and are done; same with the spoons. In between uses, the spoons are rinsed with the pitchers. And you can label the spoons for soy so they don't get mixed up.

We are a mid-volume cafe store and never have more than three people on the floor (one of us has to do lobby sweeps constantly. It can be done.

BUT I've seen some really disgusting things in other stores - spoons not rinsed, used spoons stored in a pitcher of water, you name it.

If done correctly, this is perfectly hygienic. But I'm not sure if I believe that it is done correctly. So yes, I do agree that there will be issues.

[Karl Kenya]

It's all about building skillful habits people. A few months out and you won't even notice the change, but we'll be saving a ton of water. I say good on Starbucks.

[Really??]

And we are saving this water for??? For???

[sbuxne]

OMG! you mean you may actually have to WORK now rather than just push a BUTTON?

its a J O B. its what your Suppose to do.
its your choice to be there!
remember you are putting something in SOMEONES body!

I no longer buy Starbucks - elitest Attitudes and Crappy Drinks

[Coffee Soldier]

Since we'll be saving so much water maybe we can lower the price of the Ethos Water.

[IHATECUSTOMERS]

@ SBUXNE
"OMG! you mean you may actually have to WORK now rather than just push a BUTTON?"

You are the type of person we don't want in our stores, by the very comment, you REALLY have no clue how hard we work. We should let the customers self-service their own drinks, like this dumb@$$ thinks we are just pressing a button, SHAME on you and don't come back (Although your still on SG so your probably an "in the closet" customer)

[NoH2O]

This water we are saving, is it worth making our jobs more difficult?? Are we using the dirty city water that we just saved for anything?? REALLY it won't help the planet that much and it will make everything a lot more NASTY!! EWWWww

[stacy]

I can't believe Starbucks caved to this bullshit. While conservation is important, the article that started this mess only mentioned Starbucks because they knew it would get the most attention. There are thousands of other ice cream shops and coffee shops that use the exact same procedure we currently use for the dipper wells yet the author of the article never once mentioned any other business by name.

I worked at Baskin Robbins for 4 years before Starbucks. We had four or five dipper wells that run a minimum of 12 hours a day. No one (customer, environmentalist, journalist, etc) has EVER complained about that.

[Coffee Soldier]

I think we should go back to hour long hold times for coffee, that way we wouldn't waste so much water dumping out coffee every 30 min.

[Melody]

I would be happy to vote for one hour hold times on brewed coffee. HALF the waste. Twice as likely to be able to have more coffee options on the brew. Less work for baristas.

The First & Pike Starbucks (Heritage Starbucks) was designed without dipper wells. I'd like to know how that already works there - since it's already in place - before deciding whether this is a good idea or not.

[SHIFJMEH@P@p]

Mel-

In theory it really is a great idea, although once you don't keep up to the standards and proper method of doing this spoon and rotation thing with the pitchers, it is worse than the system in place...Some stores will have no issues with the transition but I'd think HALF of the stores would not keep up on "the rules of engagement" with the spoon which would cross contaminate milks and all types of NO-NO's....So was it worth it, time will tell

On the alternative they should have decided to use coffee soldiers idea instead, use that as the gimmick that Corp. saving the world and let us keep the little whole in the bar with the water running :(

[Aaron]

I love how Starbucks tried to spin this as their own brilliant idea and part of "shared planet" when in fact they did this because of the tremendous pressure on them from the public and the media a while ago.

[spence]

Really people. A customer who reads this site would think that most baristas aren't able to manage keeping a spoon in a pitcher.
I can't imagine this is going to be beyond the intelligence of anyone in my store or any other store near me.
It will slow us down a bit in a rush but it can certainly be done and be done safely.
I honestly belive that many people who read this site are jumping in just to bash Starbucks anonomously. I hear they are hiring at the McCafe.

[Spences Crib!!]

And at your Ma's crib spence as well, jobs for everyone!

[Venti Urnex Latte]

Sanitizing every two hours? Hah! In my store, it is done once every 24 hours.

I have been borrowed in a dozen stores. Some don't adhere to standards a little and some don't adhere to standards a lot. I've seen fuzzy mold residue on the inside of the milk carafes and ill baristas sneezing on a trayful of pastries.

So we'll muddle through, like always.

[MacGiver]

Want to waste water?? How about the filtered water (RO) system that flushes 1.5 gal. down the drain every minute that it runs. That water is never recovered in the store or reused. Straight to the drain.

[CamSpi]

Sweet. I would think this makes double-barring a lot easier, too. This shouldn't be too difficult, seeing as we have to rinse pitchers after each use. Plus, we're saving a ton of money by not using a ton of water!

[socomtognar]

I find it unspeakably, horrifyingly ironic that in the internal paperwork that explaining this change, stores are urged NOT to order additional spoons beyond what is being autoshipped to them in order to prevent spoon outages at the warehouse (a spoon outage?! the horror!) and in order to keep costs down.

Are we keeping costs down by autoshipping product to stores that may not need it?

Are we keeping costs down by retrofitting THOUSANDS of stores with metered taps?

And what about the waste involved with tossing out those thousands of perfectly good spigots that will be replaced?

I am increasingly convinced that brain damage is a prerequisite for middle-to-upper management positions in this company.

So you want to save water? Ok... JUST SHUT OFF THE FAUCET AT THE DIPPER WELL. This will involve 2.5 seconds and the counterclockwise motion of someone's wrist, and will incur no additional costs in hardware or outside labor... yet have the exact same effect in terms of water saved. Additionally, when the noodlebrains in Seattle decide to do a complete 180 on this (like they do with virtually everything else, given enough time) we can then JUST TURN THEM BACK ON.

[Customizable Barista Bear]

I tried this out for a few hours yesterday and I think it makes you FASTER. After I got used to steaming with the spoon in the pitcher I realized "cool, the spoon is right there...", no reaching for it in the dip well. Not bad at all.

[BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL]

I didn't mean to indicate that HIV was spread mainly through sex or drugs, but mainly by sharing bodily fluids.

Also, you seemed to miss my point that the increased level of bacteria at Starbucks due to unsanitary measures now being implemented by Starbucks will result in more pathogens and therefore more exposure to possibly dangerous infections.

The beverage quality of each beverage will go down to.

I find it interesting that all along Starbucks told us that steaming the milk with the spoon would promote bacteria growth and now magically it doesn't.

WOW

[Vancity]

Starbucks seems be employing revisionist history with increasing frequency. When I started, I was scolded every time I left a spoon in the pitcher AFTER it was steamed, let alone DURING the steaming process!! Kind of like the whole...what was that again...use of the shot glasses for optimal espresso quality. Boy, that sure didn't last long either!! I think it's about time to resurrect the 2L pitchers out of Howie's basement ;)

[SPORK]

@ socomtognar Your plan of action of turning off the faucet would prevent fresh water from entering the well, and thus, enable the culturing of bacteria, the very thing the continuous water is promoting.

The money to autoship spoons to every store is actually less than to retrofit each store with a certain number of spoons. Worst case scenario, one full-stocked store out of one hundred gets a couple of extra spoons, trust me it's much cheaper.

[socomtognar]

I don't mean to suggest that we leave the spoons in the spoonwell in a basket of stagnant water. Perhaps I wasn't clear, but the idea is to proceed with the plan as outlined except: no autoshipment of spoons, and more importantly no replacing all those spigots.

I get that spoons are relatively cheap, that's less the issue than the cost of plumbing fixtures/labor, really.

I find the idea of leaving spoons in the pitchers rather disgusting, and for the last six years that I know of it's been a HUGE no-no... now it isn't. We were supposed to have digital thermometers (5pts on QUASA)... now we suddenly don't need them. Then: use shot glasses every time to ensure shot quality... now: don't use shot glasses because they slow you down. I could go on, but the point is we're getting mixed (if not entirely contradictory) signals with an ever increasing frequency. It's like every few months (weeks?) the powers that be pick one pet concern out of a hat, contrive all sorts of new procedures, and then at the store level we turn ourselves inside out to realize those procedures... and then the cycle repeats. Oy.

["partner"]

Retrofitting the stores, as stated before is a huge waste of money and time. I completely agree with turning a faucet on and off, as there is no modifications being made to our wells, just a fancy tappet being installed. It's like a faucet in a public restroom that you push and it stays on for a preset ammount of time. Let's use our brains, remove the strainers from the wells and twist the damn faucets on and off! Have you even considered what the faucets cost, let alone the labor costs involved with replacing our current wells? I'm estimating on the low end of $50 per unit for the spigots, and close to the same $50 per dispatch to each store to have them installed, although I believe this to be an underestimate.

I agree that this policy won't hang around for long as stated earlier. Expanding on story, remember when Howard stepped back up into the roll of CEO, and SBUX wasted countless labor hours and pointlessly retrained under the title "coffee and espresso excellence" Shot glasses were mandatory to ensure beverage quality and less than a year later we flip flop to pouring shots directly into the cups for temperture standards? what a load. We will flip flop on this too, and since we will only have metered faucets, all the stores will be battling standing water. Well played guys.

Secondly, HIGH FIVE to whomever it was that pointed out the waste produced by RO systems...I wonder how much water is used each day in brewing/water from towers versus the ammount of water that flows through the drip well. Most high pressre RO systems will recover a total of 50% of the total imput water for use. The rest simply flushes down the drain. I guess because the RO system sits outside of public view we dont need to take its operation into consideration.

I wonder if the people who come up with this schtick are the same professionals that circulated the action item last week about how to put a freaking lid on a coffee cup. As if that wasn't enough, the actually wasted the time to make a picture dagram of how to roll a lid onto a cup and posted a follow up action item a week later. Why wasn't that position nixed in the last round of lay offs instead of all the deserving store level partners that bust balls everyday to provide your undeserved salary.

[Snake]

Why is nobody talking about the 120 layoffs that are in-progress this week at the SSC? The Partner Contact Center is getting hammered.

[C/H]

@... So true.

[Mysticboi]

I have mixed emotions about this one. Would it be faster or would it be slower? Being the speed guy that I am, if I can't think of the difference...it must be a good idea. Its not like the cup vs shot glasses. Shot glasses are so much faster. I still use them today ^^

[mr sumatra]

BSR-boston-any truth to rumor bold coffee is going someone mentioned Cliff gave a speech to that

[green_cup]

The money to autoship spoons to every store is actually less than to retrofit each store with a certain number of spoons. Worst case scenario, one full-stocked store out of one hundred gets a couple of extra spoons, trust me it's much cheaper.

Posted by: SPORK | June 04, 2009 at 09:36 PM

What about the sweet irony knowing that Starbucks is further hurting the environment by manufacturing and shipping (via air and/ or ground) spoons so they can "save the earth" by turning off a tiny spoon well?

I mean, how much pollution are they causing by requiring more spoons versus just keeping an eye on the spoon well? If it's busy, turn it on. Otherwise, just turn it on to flush it out with new water.

So much for "Mother Earth."

[Corbo]

"I mean, how much pollution are they causing by requiring more spoons versus just keeping an eye on the spoon well? If it's busy, turn it on. Otherwise, just turn it on to flush it out with new water."

I agree, green_cup, and it seems like this would be a logical solution to this mess. When it's busy at my store, the spigot is running. If it's slow, I turn it down to a trickle, and every now and then I'll flush it out with a quick blast of water. Maybe what I am doing is not correct... but it seems fine.

Who knows, the new metered faucets could be a good thing. I think what is disappointing about them, given the comments that I have read here, is that it seems to be enacted out of pressure from outside sources, as opposed to wanting to be more efficient (although Starbucks is pushing its "Shared Planet" initiative).

The problem here is that there is so much waste created in other places. For instance, I had no idea about the filtered water system that uses so much water until just now. I guess it's the "out of sight, out of mind" kind of thing that someone else here mentioned. So we are presenting a good front because people can see the dipperwells... but we are not taking care of other things. If Starbucks really wants to be more efficient, then we should look at other areas that are not always visible to the public.

Unrelated to this thread, but I think that in regards to the "Shared Planet" initiative, it would be a fabulous idea to have a better cup discount. I know that this has been mentioned before. Maybe 10% instead of 10 cents? If we can afford it, that is...

['rinse']

We've had them off for a while now. No fancy new faucet, but we have to flush the pipes by running the tap for 2mins twice a day. Spoons in jugs is weird at first, but you get used to it. Milk doesn't taste as sweet cause it's not rolling the whole way ==' > so i try to hold the spoon if I can.

[SBUCKS DRONE LOS ANGELES]

Talk about a double-edged sword. Wasting water versus Saving Water (and making our jobs a little more of a pain). Eh, who am I to complain, I just push the buttons and steam the milk.

[GRTL]

We are all drones for middle and upper management...

[E-SM-WA]

Once you get used to it you will be fine. We have been doing it for six months and discovered we saved, on average, 60 gallons of water per DAY! It is worth it.

[BLAH]

SO AS WONDERFUL AS THIS IS FOR THE ENVIROMENT, CONSTANT RUNNING WATER HAS BEEN IN USE TO KEEP THINGS CLEAN YES? SO NOW THAT WE PRESS THE BUTTON IN ORDER TO WASH THE SPOONS, IVE NOTICED THAT, IT RARELY HAPPENS!!!! WHICH LEAVES THE SPOONS MILKY AND GROSS, MORE WORK FOR THE BARISTA, LESS HOURS TO DO IT :]

[Christin]

It's not just Starbucks that ends up wasting more in their efforts to save...
Many many so called "environmentalists" or "greens" do things in the name of saving resources, but when you really look at the carbon impact of their choices, or the long term physical impact, it's not actually better.

[contradiction everyday]

so what i just taught my newbie to NEVER EVER leave a spoon in the pitcher is now wrong and all pitchers will have spoons in them. this company after ? yrs can't seem to make it's freakin mind up what it wants. shots in glasses/no shots in glasses except 4. never call vivanno's smoothies/ now call them smoothies. always have coffee ready/ brew only upon request. i'm really not sure what to do until i walk in the door each day. i've said it before

BIG BEN PARLIAMENT

just let me go on vacation already and try and forget all the daily changes that confuse everyone including the customer. grabbing at every idea just makes me head hurt!

[Herman M]

Said MacGiver:
"Want to waste water?? How about the filtered water (RO) system that flushes 1.5 gal. down the drain every minute that it runs. That water is never recovered in the store or reused. Straight to the drain."

Please, get yourself a great big cup of that and take a gulp. That is a concentrated brine of all the salt accumulated by the reverse osmosis filters. Maybe we should install another RO system to desalinate it? And another for the drainage off that one?

What, precisely, would you like to recover that water to for? It will kill plants if used that way, leave a salt rime on the floors if used that way..

Please outline the uses of Sea Water in the store, and we can start using that drain off water for it. Good try, but short of closing every store in areas where our "water quality standards" are not met out of the tap (except for chlorine), there will always be waste water from filtration.