Knowledge@wharton

Consumers’ love affair with expensive customized cups of coffee shows no signs of abating even though most orders consist of little more than a cup of water a splash of milk a spoonful of coffee grinds and 30 seconds of labor. Indeed Starbucks has managed to turn its customers’ craving for caffeine into a $6.4 billion a year business with close to 6 000 company-owned coffeehouses already up and running and five new ones opening each day. All of which explains why so many coffee sellers seem intent on taking away some of Starbucks’ highly profitable market share. Yet according to Wharton marketing professors some companies are so obsessed with swiping business from Starbucks or losing customers to it that they may be abandoning a niche that has already proved profitable. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.