The Hilton defence

Shortly after the Hilton Hotel  opened in Adelaide someone  said to me "What you pay for is not the top of the range, but knowing that whenever you go into a Hilton Hotel you are getting the same standard."

I think this has a ring of truth about it and it is probably a good thing when it comes to hotel accommodation, but I was bit surprised to hear this being trotted out about Starbucks yesterday.i.e. what you pay for is not necessarily the best coffee but the same coffee anywhere in the world!

This too has a ring of truth about it, but as a coffee aficionado (all right that word is to tame to describe my relationship with coffee!)...obsessive, devotee perhaps. You don't want the same coffee. You want great coffee!

So it is hardly surprising to discover that Starbucks appears to eb on the way out.

My advice to them? If you make a better mouse trap  the world will beat a path to your door.

Other observations have included poor placement of outlets...I noticed in Singapore recently  two different outlets within metres of each other.

By and large their product is over priced, indifferent and their service often leaves much to be desired.

If you get in touch with daughter K, (yes! she who is gallivanting in North America) she will give you the doctoral thesis on how you run a coffee shop....but if you find her and manage to speak to her you are doing better than me.

Starbucks make way for someone who loves coffee, rather than just the money it might bring!