When Did Coffee Become a Status Symbol?

Odds are when you go to the grocery store, you see many people with a Starbucks coffee cup in hand. At some point, this has made it to almost a “right of passage” to get into the grocery store.

What’s funny about this is most of these cups are filled up with low-quality “coffee” beverages which are mostly made up of sugar and chocolate. Those who have one of these cups in their hand probably wouldn’t be able to tell a cup of coffee from Starbucks from a cup of your regular old gas station coffee.

Another thing that gets lost in this is why not support the local guy? While Starbucks, Dunkin and Tim Horton coffee chains boom, there are many local coffee shops that provide a better product at a similar price. Plus you are helping someone in your community build and maintain their business, which can often be their livelihood. Sure, you may have to get out of your car and actually go into the store, but when you taste a delicious latte from a local coffee shop it will delight you. Their goal is to make a drink so good that you will be back for more. Not to push out thousands of cups to customers zooming through their drive-through on a daily basis.

While you may not look quite as cool with your unbranded coffee shop at the grocery store, maybe someone will see your cup and wonder where you got that strange-looking cup that is missing the Starbucks logo. Or possibly they see your cup and say to themselves, “It’s good to see there is someone out there that knows where to get a good cup of coffee.”

I promise you that if you go get a cup of coffee from the local coffee shop it will surpass the expectations you have built up while going to the big coffee chains. If not then the coffee shop will probably not be around much longer. Most local coffee shops are owned by people who have been in and around the coffee industry their entire lives. They are chasing something that is their passion and when that is the case it almost always results in a better product.

I always make it a point to go and check out a local coffee shop when I am traveling for business or work. It’s a great place to learn about the local culture, network and most of all – to grab a great cup of coffee.