Wow - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/15/starbucks-buys-teavana-holdings_n_2136048.html
I confess, I'm a skeptic. There are at least two major camps of thought in the tea world right now. Camp one: Baaaaaaad news. Doom and gloom. Camp Two: Cautiously optimistic that this will help grow tea's popularity overall.
I see the logic in both of those viewpoints and I waffle betwen them freely. I'll hope for the best.
What do you think?
6 comments:
At least it's not doom and gloom for the cautiously optimistic.
I've never been into Starbucks! I've never had the coffee urge. I LOVE Teavana. Oh, my! What to think!!!!!?????
In Europe, Starbucks is often the only place where I can stop for a decent cup of tea (trust me... other places serve far worse tea than Starbucks! At least Starbucks serves loose leaf tea in gauze teabags).
Since I don't know Teavana (must be an American brand), I am not particularly vested in Teavana so I'd side with the Optimist camp. It may boost Tea's popularity and maybe help introduce Teavana and Tea bars in Europe. It took ages for Starbucks to take root, so it will probably take just as long for Tea bars. But one can hope, right?
Wow! I don't care for teavana teas (they're too flavored), but I love the teaware. Some real beautiful stuff. It will be interesting to see this evolve.
I hope that this is a good move. Teavana's management, from what I have read, seem to be known for its unscrupulousness in its treatment of its employees. Extrapolating from this, I have been a little dubious too regarding the sourcing of its teas. Starbucks, although now huge and very successful, seems more enlightened in its business practices.
Waffle, waffle, waffle
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