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The Seattle coffee giant has been operating in wealthier northern Italy since it first opened in Milan in 2018 but had not dared to venture south, with widespread predictions of failure in a region still deeply rooted in its culinary traditions. But there will be 13 new Starbucks in the country by the end of this year, bringing their total number to 36.
Customers sit outside a cafe in downtown Rome, Italy.Credit: Bloomberg
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The chain has more than 35,000 stores worldwide, but fewer than 3000 across Europe; 1000 in the UK, which opened its first in 1998; 600 in Turkey; and 200 in France. In Australia, it was forced to close 61 of 85 stores in 2008 in an admission that it hadn’t quite hit the mark. It now operates 65 stores on the eastern seaboard.
Vincenzo Catrambone, Starbucks Italy general manager, says taking hold in the country has not been easy, but slowly customers have come around to their espresso. But Rome, he has conceded, will remain a challenge because of its “very deep-rooted” ways.
“Even in Starbucks stores in Italy, the most bought drink is espresso, while younger generations love Starbucks cold beverages and iced coffee,” he says. “We are always working to create unique food and beverage proposals for our Italian customers during the seasons along the year, to continue to meet their needs and amaze them.”
Rome’s first Starbucks has opened just a stone’s throw from the historic and political heart of the city on Via della Guglia, opposite the Italian parliament building.Credit: Starbucks
Outside the new store, not yet a month old, security guards watch over the queue like hawks. This reporter manages to ask a few in the line why they are bothering when there are famed coffee houses just around the corner.
“It’s American,” one young man, Luka, says, in broken English, adding it was a cool novelty. “All these different flavours, we have never had this before.”
A woman, Matilde, who was lining up alongside him says: “It’s sweet and cold and not like coffee here. It’s fun.”
The discreet shopfront of the first Starbucks in Rome, which overlooks Piazza Montecitorio, opened this month to many a raised eyebrow. Credit: Starbucks
At this point, the security guard asks me what I’m up to and tells me to move on so those in line can enjoy some privacy. Beyond the queue, locals and tourists are taking photos on their phones of the shop’s discreet signage.
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“I don’t know why they have to come to Rome,” says one. “It is not very classy. We do not like the big American stores.”
In the past week, the capital’s main Termini railway station has become home to another Starbucks, with another to open in Genoa next month. The company has also announced plans to open in Bari and Naples, arguably the capital of Italian coffee culture, where locals swear the water gives their espresso a unique quality.
Around the corner at Sant’Eustachio il Caffè, a bar which has roasted its own beans since 1938, makes its own blends and uses water from an ancient aqueduct, this writer sits out front and orders a ristretto.
“Is it as good as that Starbucks?” I ask with a grin. The waiter snarls back: “This is real Italian coffee, not that hideous muck.”
Here, coffee remains a serious business.
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