When Starbucks only had 7 stores and the offices were on 2010 Airport Way South - the roasters were right under the offices. When an emergency order came in from the stores or from a restaurant account, the receptionist or the one person we had in customer service, would write the order on a piece of paper, open a sliding window, lower the order down on a string and a clip, and then blow a whistle. The roasters would pick up the order and roast a batch of whatever was needed. Coffee was shipped to the stores and accounts in 2 lb or 5lb white tins with a plastic bag liner and delivered on company trucks. The white tins were brought back to the roasters to be refilled. The roasters either called the stores every morning to get their order, or the manager would call them, but the orders were not kept, the scraps of paper just went into the bin. Everything was roasted to order and only the full batch was recorded and relieved from inventory.
One of my favourite memories is of Tom Walters. The roasters roasted the coffee by sight, smell and sound. They knew the coffee was done by hearing the sound of the second "pop", which signified that the coffee oil had reached the surface and the sugars had caramalized. Tom manned the roasters in a pony tail, bandana and Grateful Dead T-Shirt. Dave Olsen and I had the tasks of starting to forecast coffee demand so we could buy enough green coffee to meet the growth plans. So this required the roasters to keep track of the orders and enter them into a spreadsheet on a newly installed computer next to the roasters. From this, Dave and I created a forecasting tool that printed out on bluebar paper. No more calling the stores for their daily order. Some of the Roasters were up in arms about the corporate bureaucracy that was invading their craft.
Fast forward 15 years, and I saw a company video about the new roasting plant in Nevada. There was Tom Walters, in a white zip up suit, helmet, and goggles, pushing buttons while in a view tower above the roasting floor. A few weeks later, I ran into Tom in the 8th floor tasting room. I reminded Tom of the early days and distress over the bluebar paper and forecasting tool and asked him how he had made peace with all the changes. He replied, "it is like mowning the lawn." I asked him to explain his answer. He replied, "When I was 12, my Dad taught me to mow the lawn. I pushed a lawn mower and hand trimmed the edges with clippers. At 40, I have a riding lawn mower and headphones listening to my favourite music enjoying the hell out of mowing my lawn. All the bells and whistles make it more enjoyable. No matter what equipment I use, my standards for a well mowed lawn remain the same. My standards for roasting coffee will never change regardless of the equipment."
Then he unzipped his white jumpsuit and showed me his Grateful Dead T-Shirt.
So now matter how our tools and technology change to adapt to and ever growing market, our purpose and standards never need to.
Christine Day