My Quest for Coffee in Taipei

IS Coffee - Always Fresh

Business trips usually means late nights and early mornings, i.e. few hours of sleep. That's when coffee makes it's great contribution. Since hotel coffee is far from great I headed out in the early Taipei morning - blue sky and 92 degrees - to find a proper made, well-tasting coffee.

Being a world traveller I had my eyes set on Starbucks since it's a well-known global brand and what I usually enjoy in the US. I went for a walk and ran into several coffee shops, both chains and one-offs - but couldn't find any Starbucks. I did find Austin Coffee, Ikari Coffee, Dante Coffe, Helen Coffee, Coffee Kings, IS Coffee and a number of smaller coffee shops. It wasn't until I was on my way back to the hotel, after a very hot and sweaty 45-minute walk, that I saw the well-known green logo across from the Taipei Railway Station.

The coffee shop looked exactly the same as in the US. It was rapped in the same very recognizable packaging. But it had made several local adaptions in their product offering to cater to the consumer needs of locals: they offered different sweets, more tea and the coffee was offered in smaller sizes (a grande in Taiwan is like a tall in the US). Everything was nicely translated with the english translation right under.

The customers where mainly taiwanese with a few exceptions - a western expat and myself. Few spoke english but knew the words 'latte' and 'expresso' which buffled me. I taught them 'no foam' and 'non-fat' and they delivered an excellent coffee.

Starbucks has been very successful in riding and partially creating the modern coffee shop trend across the world. They have been able to grab considerable market share in key markets by combining the strengths of a global brand and local knowledge. But as more companies become global, local markets become much more fragmented. The global companies that lack staying in tune with the local consumer needs and behavior and only 'export' their domestic product will die a painful death.