Starbucks creates a buzz at first store in SA

The queue outside Starbucks in Rosebank, four days after opening.

Photographer: Jessica Taylor

The coffee giant has iconic status among customers, largely due to its free WiFi and customised drinks, with buyers' names written on cups.

One curious onlooker, Gary Logan, who declined to join the large crowd queuing for coffee, said that he had been to a Starbucks in the US once before, but had found the whole system to be too complicated.

"I have simple needs when it comes to coffee. It's either a small cup or a big cup of good black coffee. The new-age language they use is confusing to me," he said.

Newbies will have to learn a whole new coffee language. The menu options are built on a complex framework, offering 14 dimensions along which customers can make choices to "design" their own drink. Drinks come in four sizes; short (available, but not on the menu); tall; grande (Italian for large); and venti (Italian for 20).

In terms of pricing, an Americano brew will set you back R22 for the standard (tall).

Vida e caffé charges R20 for a single Americano. A double Americano will cost you R23.

Ciro national training manager Deon Mastenbroek said the arrival of Starbucks had created a renewed interest in coffee among domestic consumers.

"It will possibly even bring noncoffee drinkers into the market. Starbucks will also force other local coffee chains to up their game in terms of quality and customer service," he said.

A second Starbucks store will open in Attacq's R5bn Mall of Africa in Midrand next week.

"In two years, we think the market will have between 12-15 stores," Taste Holdings CEO Carlo Gonzaga said. Taste will roll out the stores in SA, under its licence agreement with Starbucks.