Starbucks attacking Italy?

Eurofood, Dec 3, 1998

Following its UK launch in October, US coffee shop chain Starbucks is said to be considering large-scale European operation, which will also target Italy. The business daily Il Sole 24 Ore said that Starbucks, with some 1 500 outlets in the United States, may be aiming for 500 points of sale across Europe, but they are likely to be points rather than shops, meaning machines at strategic places.

The news, however, is not rumoured to be causing too much concern in Italy, where such points are already expanding. Amid opinion expressed to the Italian newspaper by coffee group Lavazza was the belief that for penetration into the already saturated Italian coffee market, "something extraordinary and convincing" is needed, which would appear to exclude American-style coffee.