Not to understand the appeal of Starbucks, Costa, etc.?

[Nataleejah]

What is the thing with them?
Drinks are nothing special, food is not the freshest, yet you pay for a coffee and a sandwich just as much as for a decent restaurant meal.
Or it its an adult version of a "happy meal" ?

This culture of scoffing fast food in the street and whilst using public transport and food shopping whilst slurping drinks is kind of weird

It's very odd. In the space of a few years it's become a necessity to have food and drink perpetually on tap. Why? Every generation before ours managed to get to work without buying a coffee en route, parents managed to take their children to playgrounds without a permanent supply of caffeine.

What changed? I guess most people don't realise the extent to which marketing influences their decisions.

There has always been street food, in all cultures.

totally agree OP, Costa, Starbucks and so on are just fashionable McDonalds. Maximum profit, minimum wage drivel for the masses. How anybody could spend money in Starbucks after the non payment of tax owed to HM taxpayer fiasco is beyond me

just my two pence

Both situations where I would not be buying tea (don't drink coffee) space. I get to work I make myself a proper cup of tea from the work kettle in the work kitchen for example.

But a friend who is a peripatetic teacher with no access to the school facilities or another where the only hot drinks available are from a watery vending machine, they would both go to costa en route.

I find the problem with independents is most of them still only take cash (I never carry cash on me these days), or I have to spend over a certain amount on a card. I just want an espresso that I can use my contactless card for!
I went to one recently in SW London that didn't have a loo! What!!!

It's always easier to say "let's meet at the Starbucks" and everyone will know where it is rather than "let's meet at that place, you know it's on that road, I'll send you the postcode, oh and bring cash. Oh and make sure you've had a wee before you've left the house."

There is no way a costa/starbucks costs the same as a 'decent restaurant meal'.

You might get a decent restaurant meal and a water/soft drink for £10 more than a Costa but there are 6 of us, so that's £60 more.

I will go to Nero/Costa on my own because you can sit for ages without spending much and nobody bothers you. I'm not wild about the food but it's OK. The coffee is not the greatest ever but it's perfectly fine. We had 2 independents in our (small) town. One was shit and closed down, the other is nice, but it's the sort of place where they really want you to eat so I only go there if I want food, rather than just a sit down and a drink. It is nice, but it's not always what I want.

When I'm out somewhere with the kids I would go to Costa etc for the same reason I go to McDonalds (even in Hong Kong, even in Venice). It's familiar, I know everyone will find something they like well enough, and the price is predictable. I haven't really got the time and money to be experimenting with independents (which, contrary to popular MN opinion are not universally superior to chains).

I love coffee but having an occasional mug of cream flavoured with gingerbread or pumpkin spice doesn't erase that. I don't like starbucks particularly but I'll go if the person I'm with likes it. Nero is my chain of choice.

Or perhaps it's just availability? Did previous generations walk past gorgeous cafes and say 'how silly! I don't need that'?

Or did they just lack the option? I grew up in an international city and I remember huddling in a McVities Guest with a pot of tea for one, trying to feel bohemian. I don't need to do that now, there is so much choice.

I buy my coffee beans at Starbucks and grind them at home. I have searched every indy coffee shop and coffee roaster for decent coffee beans and they were all crap. Hence I keep returning to Starbucks because I've never found beans that match their quality. There's a reason they became a world brand.

I grind my beans and make my coffee at home. I don't buy portable beverages at Starbucks. I don't like their milky, sugary concoctions. Just the pure coffee.

In my case I want coffee to drink when I get to work that isn't going to be instant. Tried taking a flask; messy and annoying. A reasonably well made coffee that accommodates all my personal quirks (and they remember my coffee order exactly now) ready in a couple of minutes...what's not to like?

Oh and I drink soy milk and coconut milk and a lot of indy's wont even have soy! Starbucks has both

Thanks to all that answered my question. Good to see that some people are thinking about this too.

It's true that our culture has been set up to celebrate convenience and consumer choice. And it's definately a habit that is hard to break. But....I think that if you can't be bothered carrying a cup with you, you shouldn't buy a takeaway coffee.

Why is your convenience the most important thing?

The majority of these cups cannot be recycled!

If you can't be bothered carrying a reusable cup, then where do you think all these disposable cups are going to go?

And where do you think the energy and resources come from to create all these cups?

Quite frankly deedee that's just not on my radar.

Deedee.. why the F would you carry a reusable cup with you? To be honest I care more about where my energy is coming from without a coffee than where the energy to make a bloody cup comes from!

So are we calling Greggs and Costa 'street food' now?! . How very culturally diverse of us!

This is the coffee cup I have
ecoff.ee

We have reusable cups. They are a pain to carry around & my handbag is for purse, keys, inhaler only so we just use thecresusabke ones at home only with thectassimo.

deeedeee you seem very passionate about takeaway cups, which I applaud. Have you thought about joining or starting a lobby group to challenge the supplier of cups to these places to manufacture recyclable cups? Or even lobby the government to bring in a law and charge 5p for every cup like they did with plastic bags?

I'm sure I read something that said this coffee culture is putting huge pressure on the supply chains and soon they will have to put a huge hike on the cost. All this 'superfood' marketing is also causing environmental issues.

At some point we will be forced to eat locally produced food and only the rich will be able to grind coffee beans and spread avocado on their toast 👸

Street food for me as a teen in the 80's was a small chips & peas in a tray. Every Saturday we would get coffee/tea & a cookie from a place in our newly opened indoor shopping centre. It closed down though.

Ok 'Food that can be eaten on the street' has been around forever, everywhere - is that better?

Please, please let's not go back to a time when a day out meant having to eat sardine paste sandwiches that had been kept warm in my mums handbag washed down with oversweet lukewarm tea, from a tartan flask that smelt like washing up liquid and spit.

Surely Greggs and Costa and McDonalds have saved us from that!

" Starbucks. I don't like their milky, sugary concoctions"

Do they not do unsweetened black coffee? I'm sure I had one there once, seem to remember it tasting like tar!

Starbucks is very trendy and an absolute must have for my 12 year old and her friend's when they go shopping. I am just shocked that they can all regularly afford to waste about 4 quid on a drink at their age !!!

Quite frankly deedee that's just not on my radar.

To be honest I care more about where my energy is coming from without a coffee than where the energy to make a bloody cup comes from!

Comments to be proud of right there, eh?

I tend to use coffee shops for writing so I often need wifi for reference purposes.

In my town there's a lovely little independent cafe - but it doesn't have wifi.

So I either need to use Costa / Caffe Nero or go to a different town.

Starbucks tea is awful, like dishwater. We have some good independents where I live who really care about what they serve. Costa do make a good hot chocolate though.