I Don’t Like #Starbucks - I Love It!

Is it just who has a coffee based guilty secret ? It can’t be just me who has a two-faced view of the coffee chain-stores like Starbucks, Costa and Nero can it?  My secret is quite simply, despite all the tax dodging, I still prefer corporate chains to independent coffee shops.

I can see why this will be like a red rag to a bull to many people, greedy multinational corporate giants don’t exactly have a good PR image in this country do they? Add to that the fact that the likes of Starbucks openly admit to not paying their full UK taxes and are usually seen as taking over our towns and cities, forcing boutique and local coffee shops out of business, obliterating the previously unique identities of our high streets. So you see, my view may not be too popular.

If it seems as though there’s a Costa Coffee on every corner, you’d be right; this month Whitbread (who own Costa) revealed that it was opening three shops a week, or if you like, 150 this year. It’s rival Café Nero have said they’ll open 34 in 2014.

Then there are farm shops and farmer’s markets, I have issues with those too. I love them, everyone seems to love them, so why don’t I go and shop there?

Local Independents

I live in North Warrington, and am an avid supporter of local food businesses. As I say, I love going to farm shops and farmer’s markets, problem is they’re quite expensive and none of them exist near where I live, the nearest proper farmer’s market is once a month and is ten miles away in High Legh. Similarly, the nearest decent farm shop is over in Stretton, a good twenty minute, ten mile drive away.

I do actively support buying meat from my local butcher in Culcheth, a guy whose home-made sausages and locally-sourced meat are brilliant and attract a loyal army of customers. Indeed I often promote him via my Twitter account. Similarly I support a local café and the local sandwich shop (which incidentally does serve the best coffee I’ve ever had).  Both of these have fantastic personal relationships with their customers, and they’re probably right to be concerned about my loyalty.

So What’s My Issues ?

Well firstly the coffee issue, there is nowhere locally with the ambience of a chain coffee shop. I like to go in these places, plonk myself down in one of the comfy chairs for an hour, have a coffee and read the paper, read a book or catch up on some emails or some work. I can’t do this in the local café or sandwich shop because they’re just not geared up for someone sat there for an hour. They like a high turnover of trade, twenty minutes is about the maximum you can stay without feeling uncomfortable.

So instead I find myself either not bothering and sitting in my conservatory with a Tassimo coffee or I find myself driving to Starbucks or Costa both six miles away at Gemini. In reality, many people, including me, secretly love the likes of Starbucks and Costa. The coffee is reasonable (not the best but reasonable), the atmosphere is good and in general, the cheerful staff let me sit for more than an hour nursing one skinny latte and a chocolate muffin.

My other issues revolve around the whole farm shops and farmer’s markets thing. As I’ve said, locally there aren’t really any that are either regular or perceived to be affordable.

Let me say that to be attractive and change people’s buying habits, farmer’s markets need to be held weekly or fortnightly wherever possible. Producers should make shoppers aware of other outlets where their goods are available. Market organisers can help producers forge links with local shops, or even schools, hospitals and care homes. Box schemes can be set up to increase access for less mobile customers. I'm sure there are other ways.

Farmer’s markets are often seen as expensive and elitist, the preserve of the gullible, health-obsessed chattering classes willing to spend £10 on a few biodynamic tomatoes. In general, this view is not only annoying; it is wrong. Research has shown that much fresh produce is actually more expensive at supermarkets. With organic food, the price difference is striking: meat and poultry have been found to be on average 37% more expensive at the supermarket, whilst vegetables were 33% cheaper at farmers' markets. And at farmers' markets you really can taste the difference! Farm shops though are often considerably by the public to be more expensive than either supermarkets or farmer’s markets and from my experience, they usually are!

Corporates force independents to close

Many people often criticise the big corporate food and drink chains for putting independent shops out of business and yes this does happen. But don’t forget though, that often those “local” shops or restaurants are owned by larger businesses, but are masquerading as independent outlets.

The corporates may actually be the epitome of capitalist greed to some, but unlike locals, they are still forced to be transparent and accountable to their shareholders, they have commitments to corporate social responsibility, they also provide employment to many young people. Surely, when so many shops are lying empty, it is better that the space is filled by a branch of a coffee chain than by a boarded-up facade?

Tax Avoidance

“I’m boycotting Starbucks because they don’t pay their taxes” is something I’ve heard a lot. But there is nothing illegal about Starbucks' UK tax arrangements. And if you think there is something fundamentally amiss with them, the answer isn't tut-tutting of the sort favoured by David Cameron.

Whenever any tax case such as this erupts, Cameron's default position is moralising populism of the most opportunistic sort. Just look at his recent response to Gary Barlow avoiding tax. It may win a few favourable headlines, but no credible tax system is based on shaming people into paying.

The real villains of tax avoidance aren't the companies that practise it. Structuring your affairs in a manner that lawfully minimises your tax liability is the only rational and moral choice for individuals or companies. What kind of parent would deliberately arrange his finances so as to maximise his liabilities to the tax man and minimise the amount of disposable income left to spend on his family or save for his future? What kind of business would deliberately seek to pay tax it doesn't legally have to and thereby minimise the returns to its shareholders and reduce its ability to create jobs, develop new products, or cut prices to its customers? I suspect if any of us had the opportunity to avoid paying tax, we would! It is the tax system which is at fault, for without it there could be no tax avoidance.

Politicians shouldn't be trying to shame companies into paying a token amount of tax to win a few cheap headlines for themselves. They should focus on ending the loopholes which – however reprehensible we might think Starbucks, Gary Barlow, Jimmy Carr and company are – means that their tax-avoiding antics are completely legal.

Opportunity Knocks?

So I admit, I love Starbucks and Costa, if there was a local alternative I’d probably use it, but there isn’t. And the simple reason why these big corporate coffee chains are opening so many new shops and why their profits are up is because demand is there. And yes, I know that often those empty shops are there because an independent shop has been forced out of business, but I would be a hypocrite if I said I didn’t wish the empty premises on a street corner near to where I live, if derelict for several years, would be taken over by a Costa Coffee. 

All this leads to one thing locally, North Warrington lacks a decent coffee shop, a decent, affordable farm shop and a proper, regular farmer’s market. Opportunity Knocks – Is anyone brave enough to answer?