New technique in a fast-food chain

[Xavier]

I just saw this via Twitter http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/25/fast-food-take-on-loose-l_n_4855717.html

Did anyone saw it or tried it?

[Jackie]

That’s pretty clever @xavier, I’ve never seen this or heard of it before either. But I imagine it would make the cup of tea/coffee a lot pricier. It can’t be cheap to make, at least not compared to the standard lids.

[peter]

Here’s a video for this, an interview with the inventor. I think this is a good idea and could probably catch on nicely. I hope that he is pushing Starbucks on it. Getting them on board (as opposed to only using it in Teavana, which would be a good testing ground) would change the face of the loose tea industry.

This really is the type of product that might break the tea bag hold on things.

[Xavier]

@peter do you know if Starbuck and other chains are really interested in this invention.

[peter]

@xavier – I don’t know, but the owner doesn’t talk about it in his interview there and that interview is 4 years old now. If Sbux was going to move on his idea, he would have made a deal with them by now.

I did find their website, http://mysmartcup.com/

From the looks of it, it appears that they are simply just working hard to get their distribution up. I noticed that they do distribute to Europe.

Somehow I think that mass consumers are probably not sophisticated enough for this kind of product or tool. In the case of Starbucks, they try to guarantee the quality of every cup they serve, and they take ownership of mistakes and correct them if the customer is not happy with the preparation. That said, a product like this, puts the preparation of the drink in the hands of the customer. If the customer screws it up and asks for a replacement drink, is it reasonable for the store to assume ownership and offer their guarantee? I don’t think so. The more I think about, the more I think that Starbucks may not be willing to take that risk because of the level of customer education involved.

This is definitely an innovative product, but not one that will serve the mass market. This is a product that can market to connoisseur or foodie culture to give them a way in to having high quality beverages conveniently in a way that engages them. The shops that use this product as a primary means are not going to be your average Starbucks-like stores. Its going to be more specialty shops with customers who are interested in the process, while people like all of us around here would appreciate, we are in the minority when it comes to beverage consumers.

[Author]

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