10:00am | Because Long Beach is a treasure trove of indie coffeehouse gems, I rarely find myself inside a Starbucks.
But since Starbucks is not a Walmart-like chain, on those rare occasions when I find myself in need of joe without a better option handy, I feel I can give them a couple of bucks without sullying my soul.
Sullying the environment a little more than necessary, though, apparently goes with the Starbucks territory, as I found out recently when I ordered a venti coffee and a slice of Reduced-Fat Very Berry Coffeecake. I specified “for here,” and got the coffee in a mug (even though sometimes if you don’t keep a wary your barista will automatically reach for a cardboard cup, whether you’re at a chain or an indie), the cake on a porcelain plate, and a plastic-wrapped packed holding a napkin and a spoon and fork of plastic.
“Can I get a metal fork?” I asked: no, I was politely told, because Starbucks doesn’t carry metal utensils. “We used to have them, but the corporate office pulled them out of all Starbucks a while ago.”
This was surprising to hear, considering that Starbucks touts itself as environmentally responsible, apparently with a whole rigmarole of “green” practices. An entire section of the company’s Website is dedicated to “Recycling & Reducing Waste,” with subsections on “Recycling & Reusable Cups,” “Energy & Water Conversation,” “Environmental Stewardship,” and so forth. “Every paper cup saved helps keep our forests intact,” it reads at one point.
Why the inconsistency when it comes to utensils? Well, during my initial contact with Starbucks the company passed the buck:
Regarding your inquiry about the availability of metal utensils, every store is set up with a full set of “for-here” items — mugs, glasses, plates, and silverware and that it’s part of the standard store order. After that stores are responsible for replenishment on an as-needed basis. As far as we’re aware, there was no incident, issue or “corporate decision” to remove metal utensils from our stores.
So I figured maybe this employee was misinformed, or this Belmont Shore location was an aberration. But you know what happened next (or why would I be writing this article, right?): I started calling around to all the Starbuckses in Long Beach — and every single store I could find confirmed that they do not have metal utensils. One employee said she once worked at a Starbucks that furnished them, but that was years ago. Several employees repeated the claim that started my inquiry: that Starbucks made a decision on a corporate level to supply customers only with plastic.
I contacted Starbucks’ corporate office with this info and was told: “The replenishment of mugs, glasses, plates, and silverware is handled on a store-by-store basis and is at the discretion of individual store managers.” The implication seemed to be that every Starbucks in Long Beach had an initial order of silverware, but that every store in Long Beach has apparently lost the silverware while managing to hold on to their initial order mugs, plates etc. — even though metal is obviously a lot more durable than ceramic. I followed up once again, and finally Starbucks seemed to concede there is a problem around these parts:
In working with the regional director for the Long Beach area on your inquiry, we found that some store managers were unaware that the utensils are available to order. We are currently reminding all partners (employees) in the region that metal utensils are available, and are hopeful many will take advantage of the opportunity to re-stock them.
I’ll check back with the Starbuckses around town in a few months to see if anything’s changed, but this incident might serve as a reminder that companies big and small will respond to customer pressure. Maybe it’s one person pressing a point, maybe it’s a thousand making the same request day after day. But if you’d like to see a change, why wouldn’t you at least say so? You might actually get it.
And if your voice doesn’t serve to get your wants met, try talking with your wallet. That’s the one thing we know always changes corporate minds.