Tesco Backed 'Artisan' Coffee Chain

When it comes to coffee shops North London's Crouch End has it's fair share, but new arrival 'Harris and Hoole' has sparked controversy. The branch which also has stores in Amersham, Uxbridge, Ruislip and Southgate is up to 49% owned by the high-street giant Tesco.

The coffee industry is lucrative, last year Costa Coffee made £36.1million pre-tax profits. It is a well known fact that Tesco make £1 out of every £8 spent on the high-street and the organisation already have brand extensions including banking, clothing. dvd rentals, electronics and mobile phones. Tesco's ever-increasing power in the marketplace is what is making people unhappy about the coffee shop.

In reality, Harris and Hoole is family-owned by Australian siblings Nick, Laura and Andrew Tolley. The family own the majority of shares in the business and have total control over the way it is run. Tesco invested in the venture and have no say in the business strategy. Unfortunately, the association with Tesco has not done Harris and Hoole's reputation any favours and has resulted in extensive negative media coverage. The next few months will show if this is enough to put people off the chain or if it will thrive as well as the other high-street coffee chains.

After all, it's personal.

Starbucks is the largest coffee house company in the world with 19,435 stores in 58 countries. Due to Starbucks mass-scale success they have often been the subject of negative PR. During Starbucks rapid growth in the early 2000s, they were criticised for driving out smaller coffee firms with fierce tactics. Starbucks have suffered from many controversies since they started business which is why they now know the importance of PR as a strategic business function.

Starbucks latest strategy is to ‘listen’ to their customers and then coincide this with a marketing campaign. Through customer feedback Starbucks found that UK coffee drinkers liked their lattes stronger and decided to put an extra shot of coffee in every latte. This move has gone hand-in-hand with in store promotions claiming ‘it’s personal.’ Starbucks now write every customers name on their cup and promise to make the drink perfect, if it isn’t they will make it again until it is.

Listening is an important aspect of business and making customers feel special will make them come back again and again instead of going to one of Starbuck’s competitors. This strategic move will no doubt add to Starbucks continuing success as the world’s largest coffee shop.