Starbucks’ Reserve Roasteries are a new concept store of the Seattle’s coffee brand. At the time of this post (March 2019), there are Reserve Roasteries in New York, Seattle, Milan, Tokyo, Beijing, and Shanghai (one in Chicago is underway).
These cafes are unlike any other Starbucks’ outlet: they are gargantuan spaces filled with experiences and goodies that you do not normally find in your regular Starbucks.
Why the focus on China? China is actually the second largest market for Starbucks in the world and is poised to take over the US as the most important profit center for the company. In China they really cracked the consumer code positioning themselves as a premium brand (it is 20% more expensive than in the US) and finding a place in a tea-centered culture.
The visit
The visit described in this post refers to the Starbucks’ Reserve Roastery opened in Shanghai in December 2017.
It is located in a two-story round building connected to the upscale Taikoo Hui Mall (sorry for the photo… it was a rainy day and the girl really was taking forever to get her picture taken).
The experience began with a little bit of queue. It was a gloomy Saturday afternoon. I only waited 5 minutes (close to my boiling point for this kind of adventure).
Inside it was pretty packed.
One of the most characteristics structures inside was the 40-ton bronze cask where the beans deposit after roasting. However it was not immediately clear how the process worked. The roastery, in my opinion, was more to impress than to educate.
Of course, the focus on the ground floor was the coffee that was available in exotic varieties not normally seen in other Starbucks cafes.
Coffee beans were also for sale.
A lot of branded merchandising was for sale as well.
They also had pizza by the slice and cakes made in collaboration with Princi’s bakery in Milan. A part of the ground floor was dedicated to the baked products. A slice of pizza was 68 RMB (or 10 USD). I tasted one of the desserts and I can say that the idea that this brings Italian food to the mix is laughable. More Olive Garden Italian food.
One the upper floor there was a space dedicated to Teavana, Starbucks’ tea brand that is quite popular in its Chinese shops.
I had a dessert: a sort of profiterole filled with cream. Absolutely unremarkable.
The overall idea behind the Reserve Roastery is summarized by a Starbucks’ executive in an interview with Forbes:
The Roastery is an opportunity to showcase the finest and rarest coffees from around the world. We show the customer the green beans, and share the experience of what happens when a bean is roasted, and serve the freshest coffee, which can be brewed in various flavors. We’re taking innovation to new levels, from the finest bakeries from Milan to stretch cocktails and aperitivos.
The Italian food concept has been recently extended in another new Starbucks store in Shanghai called Starbucks’ Reserve Bakery Cafe, where they also serve brunch and aperitivos (light refreshments and cocktails before dinner part of the Italian tradition).
The check
The dessert was 58 RMB or 8.65 USD. In case you did not get it, everything was jacked up in this place, beginning with the prices. A dessert would cost from 8 to 10 USD and a slice of pizza is above 10 USD. Not to mention the coffee. I am not a coffee drinker so I did not check, but according to online reports, in these Roasteries the price of a cup of coffee is easily double the normal Starbucks’ price.
The Reserve Roastery is not a cafe: it is a self-celebration of a brand. A place for selfies. It does not make any economic sense, but people flock, so they must be right. For me there won’t be other visits.
Where in Shanghai:
HKRI Taikoo Hui, 789 Nanjing Xi Lu, by Fengyang Lu
In Chinese: 南京西路789号, HKRI 太古汇, 近凤阳路
Website: https://roastery.starbucks.com.cn/en/