Starbucks Tall Nonfat Decaf Latte
From Kunkelfruit Wiki
Starbucks decaf tall nonfat latte is a twelve ounce, 120-calorie beverage made of steamed foamy nonfat milk and one shot of decaf espresso. Tall refers to the size of the drink. At one time, the twelve ounce size was the largest drink size available at Starbucks stores. It is now the smallest size listed on the menu, and is the size a customer is given when they request a small drink. An eight ounce drink is available, called a ‘short’, but only if specifically requested by a customer.
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Cost vs. Price
The price of the decaf tall nonfat latte varies according to the state in which it is purchased. In Santa Cruz, California, the beverage cost $2.50, while in New York City, New York the beverage is $3.41. In Bismarck, North Dakota a customer will pay $2.78 for the drink. Industry insiders estimate that most tall drinks from Starbucks cost the company approximately ten cents worth of ingredients to produce. This number does not include Starbucks’ overhead expenses.
Lattes ranging in size and several different milk and syrup combinations make up a large portion of the drinks prepared daily by baristas at Starbucks. The primary ingredient of a decaf tall nonfat latte is the espresso.
Taylor Clark writes:
[I]f Starbucks can make a profit by putting its stores right across the street from each other, as it so often does, why couldn't a unique, well-run mom and pop do even better next-door? And given America's continuing thirst for exorbitantly priced gourmet coffee drinks, there's a lot of cash out there for the taking. As coffee consultant Dan Cox explained, "You can't do better than a cup of coffee for profit. It's insanity. A cup of coffee costs 16 cents. Once you add in labor and overhead, you're still charging a 400 percent markup—not bad! Where else can you do that?"
Espresso
Starbucks espresso roast is a blend of Latin American and Indonesian coffee beans. Coffee trees were originally indigenous to Ethiopia and the Arabian Peninsula. Dutch traders exported coffee and coffee trees to many parts of the world. Today, Brazil is the leading grower of coffee beans.
Coffee trees can grow up to 40 feet tall but are usually kept much shorter for easier harvesting. The average coffee tree takes five years to reach fruit-bearing maturity and then bears enough cherries to produce only about one-and-one-half pounds of roasted coffee.
Several environmental factors such as soil, climate and altitude have an effect on the taste of the coffee. Starbucks coffee bean buyers spend an average of eighteen weeks a year traveling and sampling various coffees from around the world. Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world and procurement of this commodity is serious business.
Starbucks typically pays around $1.25 per pound for most whole bean coffees; and roughly $1.40 per pound for certified organic fair trade coffees. The wage of the coffee plantation worker varies greatly between growing regions and highly depends on the contract the grower has entered into with companies such as Starbucks. According to public sources, the average wage for a coffee plantation worker is about $3 per day.
At harvest time, which is generally November and December, the coffee cherries are a cranberry color with thick skins. Under the thick layer of skin the coffee cherry is very sweet and is similar in texture to a grape. Deep in the center of the cherry there is a thin protective layer called the mucilage. This layer helps protect the pit of the cherry, which is the coffee bean. The coffee cherry almost always contains two beans but very rarely there is only one bean, which is referred to as a pea berry.
After the growers have harvested the coffee beans, the beans are prepared for roasting. This process involves either the natural method or the washed method. For the natural method, the ripe coffee cherries are allowed to dry on the ground or even on the tree. With the washed method the beans are immediately separated from the coffee cherry, soaked in a tank of water and then dried by simply being spread out, or dried through the use of modern equipment.
Decaffeination
At this point decaf coffees are decaffeinated using a chemical called methylene chloride, which extracts about 97 percent of the caffeine from the coffee bean. There are two widely used methods of decaffeination: the European method and the Swiss method. The European method uses methyline chloride, which is considered less invasive to the overall flavor and taste of the bean than the Swiss method. With the Swiss water method of decaffeination, the caffeine and flavor are removed from the bean and then the flavor is reinstated without the caffeine. All of the decaffeinated coffees with the exception of one Starbucks offers are decaffeinated chemically, although, virtually no trace of the chemical is left behind.
Decaf Komodo Dragon is decaffeinated using the Swiss process, also known as the 'natural method'.
Roasting
After the decaffeination process, the beans are ready to be roasted. Starbucks has a very regimented approach to this process, which takes place at a Starbucks roasting facility. Although originally located in Kent, Washington, just outside of Seattle, Starbucks now has regional roasting plants across the country.
Once the beans arrive at the roasting facility, they are heated in a large metal drum. After about five to seven minutes of extreme heat, most of the moisture has evaporated. At that point the beans turn yellowish in color and can develop a smell similar to pop corn. After eight minutes in the roaster the beans begin to pop and double in size, and turn a light brown color. The beans have a distinctly sour flavor at this point. At ten or eleven minutes the beans become a more even brown color as oil begins to coat the exterior of the bean. Somewhere between eleven to fifteen minutes the beans reach their full flavor potential as they pop for a second time. They are pulled from the roaster and set out to cool. Then the beans are packaged and delivered to your local market or Starbucks store.
Milk
The second ingredient of a decaf tall nonfat latte is, of course, non-fat milk. Most of the milk in America comes from very large dairy farms in California or the Midwest. Dairy cows are generally given hormones and a special diet to help them produce large volumes of milk on a daily basis. After being extracted from the cow, the milk is held in a large sterilized refrigerated tank. The milk is then pasteurized and homogenized. Pasteurizing is a method of heating the milk to specific temperature for a certain amount of time to kill any potentially harmful bacteria. Homogenization separates the milk from the fat or cream in the milk. In the case of nonfat milk, the cream is permanently removed. In whole milk the cream is broken up and distributed more evenly throughout the milk. The milk is then packaged and delivered to stores or distributors. Starbucks generally uses a large food service delivery company to bring bi-weekly deliveries of dairy products such as milk, half-and-half, and whipping cream.
Store and Barista
As of 2006 there are roughly 10,800 Starbucks or Starbucks licensed franchisees worldwide. Starbucks stores are busiest during the months of November and December, when sales during those months make up about 40% of their yearly sales amount.
The stores are staffed by 125,000 employees, which Starbucks refers to as ‘partners’. A Starbucks store generally necessitates a manager; assistant manager; several shift supervisors; and several baristas. On any given morning that you order a decaf tall nonfat latté, any combination of these partners will be stationed at various places behind the counter. Starbucks feels that consistency is a big part of their success, so the labor plan behind the counter will most likely look similar at whichever Starbucks location you visit, nationwide.
Most Starbucks baristas work under forty hours per week and are paid an hourly rate. Starbucks provides flexible scheduling for college students and those seeking part-time jobs. The barista’s hourly wage varies according to the state where the store is located, and usually falls in the range of just above state minimum wage. In New York a barista’s starting wage will be about $8.50 per hour. In North Dakota a barista will start out making about $7.50 per hour.
Starbucks wage for managers varies. In some states, such as California, managers are paid hourly in order to conform to new state laws requiring managers who were on salary to be compensated for over-time hours; but most Starbucks managers are paid a salary. The average starting salary for managers is around $39,000. Manager salaries peak in the mid-to-high $40,000 range.
Starbucks offers health benefits to employees who work over twenty hours per week. An employee can accrue vacation time after her or she has been employed for six months. Partners also receive a 30% discount on Starbucks food, drinks and merchandise. Partners are allowed one free pound of coffee or a free package of Tazo tea per week, termed a 'weekly markout benefit.' Starbucks employees are also allowed free drinks of their choice, for every shift they work, up to one-half hour before or after the shift.
Currently, many Starbucks employees are seeking to form unions that would give them power to demand a higher hourly wage and guaranteed number of work hours per week. Employees complain that they may be scheduled to work 30 hours one week and only ten the next. Without a guaranteed number of work hours, employees complain that they have a difficult time maintaining a budget that allows them to pay bills and take care of financial obligations.
"Brewing Solidarity: A Profile of the Starbucks Workers Union", a documentary from Labor Beat, a public access TV show in Chicago:
To provide speedy service, the baristas are organized and methodical in preparing drinks. The order in which your drink is repeated back to you by the partner on the cash register is the order in which the barista will mark your beverage cup to ensure they precisely make the correct drink. The customer may have specific instructions regarding such details as the syrup temperature or type of milk to be used in his or her beverage.
Almost all Starbucks baristas now use new Verismo push-button machines to make espresso beverages. These machines do not require baristas to time, measure, or tamp the shot. The barista must simply periodically add regular and decaf beans to two separate funnels at the top of the machine. The machine grinds and adds water to the espresso, which, with the push of a button, squirts out in the form of a shot. The barista can select the number of shots, from one-half and up. The machine also includes a push-button steaming wand which rapidly heats milk in small metal pitchers. Since the wand is heating and adding air to the pitcher of milk, the barista can create foam for a cappuccino or for the top of a decaf tall nonfat latté. Because a barista at a busy Starbucks location can make hundreds of drinks in one shift, the speed and usability of these machines is very important. The automation of the machines also helps ensure that a latté at Starbucks tastes the same whether the Starbucks is located in New York or L.A.; therefore, adhering to Starbucks desire to maintain a consistent product.
Some Starbucks baristas have voiced concern that the machine takes away the ‘art’ of the barista and the coffee suffers from the automation and lack of detailed preparation; but others say it makes their job easier and the product is just as good. The price of the Verismo machine varies, but falls in the range of around $6,000 - $12,000.
After preparing your drink, the barista calls out your drink in the same order he or she marked the cup, to once again ensure that you receive the right drink, just the way you ordered it.
External Links
"The Starbuck Stops Here" by Bonnie Goldstein in Slate.com, March 9, 2007
