A frappuccino frenzy has whipped through Japan making a narrow, two-storey coffee shop opposite Shibuya station in central Tokyo the busiest Starbucks cafe in the world.
Every day a line of young Japanese, often sweltering in midday sunshine, curves out of the shop and onto the street, while inside queues of thirsty customers clutching coffee cups wait up-to an hour for a spare seat.
"I thought it would be a success but I never dreamed we would be quite as successful as this," exclaimed Starbucks Coffee Japan Ltd president Yuji Tsunoda.
Japan was the first foreign destination for Starbucks Corp. when it expanded from the US in 1996 to form a 50-50 joint venture with Japanese wholesaler and retailer Sazaby Inc.
"On Aug. 2, 1996 the first outlet opened in Japan, almost exactly five years ago from today," said Tsunoda who is also a Sazaby board member.
In that time Starbucks Japan has broken the world record for the number of shops opened by a directly owned operation, expanding from one to 260 outlets nationwide, he said.
Throughout Tokyo, dustbins cluttered with empty paper cups emblazoned with the famous circular green logo provide evidence of Starbucks-mania which has gripped the capital.
"We queue for 45 minutes even though we know we are not going to get a seat, it is crazy but everyone still comes here," said 16-year-old school girl Yuko Uehara as she joins a queue outside the Shibuya Starbucks.
"In the summer everyone wants a Frappuccino [iced slush in a variety of flavors such as coffee or mango]," said Tsunoda. He is leading the coffee shop's crusade across the country after befriending US Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz in 1992 and striking a deal to launch the chain in Japan.
The Japanese self-service coffee shop market is dominated by home-grown chain store Doutour Coffee Co Ltd, which has been serving cheap, no-nonsense brews for over 30 years.
But when Starbucks arrived, it brought a new flavor of coffee to Japan, Tsunoda said.
A slump in the Japanese economy has had no impact on profits. "I don't think about it and sales haven't really changed," Tsunoda said.
RSS