Greedy Starbucks

[smokie36]

Hmm much of a muchness these chains I find. Best I've had in Pattaya was Au Bon Pain.

Anyway off to Monmouth now I'm in the mood.

[sakaew]

BENJAMIT???

I've been going there for years.

It's been run by a Thai Chinese family from the word "Go"

The coffee is excellent...and way cheaper than Starbucks.

I still go to Starbucks if I happen to be in Tukcom...and if I'm too lazy to walk across the road to Benjamit.

I'm no coffee afficianardo...but their coffee beans do not really suit my taste.

Are they not top quality?

Or just not to my taste, to the same extent as Benjamit?

Benjamit is very busy on Tuesday and Friday...market days at Soi Buakaow.

They are INSIDE Soi Buakaow market.

To find them....enter the market from the road between 2 motorcy shops...and turn right IMMEDIATELY you step past a few small shops.

There's a poky walkway..and you have to dodge the crowds.

Keep walking a couple of hundred metres..and they're on the right.

The parents sell good quality pastries from a cart at the front of the shop..

All in all, it's success story, for the simple reason that they serve EXCELLENT coffee, at reasonably prices..with equally excellent service.

Benjamit roast their own coffee...and are at pains to run the business with absolute professionalism.

A RARE and beautiful thing in Thailand.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

BENJAMIT???

I've been going there for years.

It's been run by a Thai Chinese family from the word "Go"

The coffee is excellent...and way cheaper than Starbucks.

I still go to Starbucks if I happen to be in Tukcom...and if I'm too lazy to walk across the road to Benjamit.

I'm no coffee afficianardo...but their coffee beans do not really suit my taste.

Are they not top quality?

Or just not to my taste, to the same extent as Benjamit?

Benjamit is very busy on Tuesday and Friday...market days at Soi Buakaow.

They are INSIDE Soi Buakaow market.

To find them....enter the market from the road between 2 motorcy shops...and turn right IMMEDIATELY you step past a few small shops.

There's a poky walkway..and you have to dodge the crowds.

Keep walking a couple of hundred metres..and they're on the right.

The parents sell good quality pastries from a cart at the front of the shop..

All in all, it's success story, for the simple reason that they serve EXCELLENT coffee, at reasonably prices..with equally excellent service.

Benjamit roast their own coffee...and are at pains to run the business with absolute professionalism.

A RARE and beautiful thing in Thailand.

They certainly seem to make the effort.

http://www.benjamitcoffee.com/espresso-en.html

http://www.benjamitcoffee.com/aboutus_en.html

They should get a customer to help them with the English translation.

[Exsexyman]

Back in California, Starbuck had beagles, cream cheese and smoked

salmon ... That always made it worth going there ... but in this hot climate,

I don't lust for a coffee that much.

Price wise, if I remember correctly, they have always been "overpriced".

But I guess back home nobody really thinks that way ...

Cheers,

rudi

Reckon you must have wandered into a Korean restaurant by mistake! I am also a fan of Benjamit. Sometimes difficult to get a seat on market days. Great coffee, really friendly efficient staff, newspapers etc. Their iced coffee at 40 baht is a steal.

[Semper]

Usually, but not always, Starbuck's is well air conditioned, plays good music at a reasonable level, has comfortable chairs and has newspapers. The coffee tastes good to me, but the comfort is what I'm paying for and I'm happy to pay it. There is no competition that even tries to offer all of the above.

I could name a half-a-dozen coffee shops in Pattaya that offer all of the above (and usually free wi-fi as well) at at cheaper prices for similar quality coffee.

It's subjective, of course. But I don't think you can name even one! Yeah you can get a cheaper cup of cofee, but the music will be loud and crap, or the chairs will be cheap, or the AC will be lousy etc.....

I drink my cofee at home. I choose my own music,have comfy chairs etc.

[sarahsbloke]

Miracle coffee, outside every Tesco Lotus, 30bht for a Latte

You can't beat it.

Of course this is only coffee, you want wifi, aircon, etc., this is not for you.

[Semper]

Miracle coffee, outside every Tesco Lotus, 30bht for a Latte

You can't beat it.

Of course this is only coffee, you want wifi, aircon, etc., this is not for you.

You got that right.

[powderpuff]

Black Canyon & S&P serve Western Food / Thai food, not cheap but clean fresh tasty & nicely turned out. You won't get Montezumas' revenge eating there. And both chains serve excellent coffee.

[Phil Conners]

Agree about Benjamit ... but it is so HOT ... need aircon!

[tropo]

Are you insane...everyone of the places I mentioned is head and shoulders above Charbucks..

No, but you must be to come up with that. Your childish misspelling alone indicates you may be in need of assistance.

[ExpatOilWorker]

What a contrast between rip-off Starbcuks and the closest thing they

have in Cambodia: a national chain called the Blue Pumpkin.

Agreed...the Khmers really have that "cafe society" thing down cold...gotta thank the French for that I suppose. I'm just back from Phnom Penh and enjoyed the B-P on Sisowath Quay immensely...the coffee, ice-creams, and cakes are superb and the views for the river from the upper floor just wonderful. The free wi-fi is nice as well.

As for "Charbucks," certainly agree they are the worst coffee around and the most expensive usually...go figure. Same for Micky D's...just goes to show the power of marketing. With so many really good independent shops around town featuring very good coffees for much less money, don't see why any local would patronize them. If anyone is looking for American style brewed coffee, the best I have found is Au Bon Pain's...you can get a small mug for B 50 and a huge mug (takes me like 1 1/2 hours to finish) for B 70.

Strange that Cambodia got the coffee culture so well, I am in Vietnam right now and the coffee here is really bad and bitter. Beers are cheap though!

[striderman]

How is the coffee at Benjamit on Pattaya Tai? Anyone been there?

Benjamit

as stated in another post it's not actually on south pattaya rd aka pattaya tai.

it fronts onto the tuesday and friday market.

nice little ma and pa outfit good coffee and excellent ice cream and much cheaper than starbucks

[Jingthing]

Thanks for the tip about Benjamit. I will definitely check out their beans.

[striderman]

Thanks for the tip about Benjamit. I will definitely check out their beans.

standing with your back to friendship supermarket cross south pattaya rd down the little soi to the market area turn right and it's a few yards up on the right.

tends to be closed on a saturday for a rest day after the friday market.

chocolate ice cream mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm i feel like homer simpson

[charlie1968]

Thanks for the tip about Benjamit. I will definitely check out their beans.

i will as well

charlie

[FarangBuddha]

If one is on the road and in need of a coffee boost, the Amazon Cafes, found at many PTT service stations (including the one on Sukkie between Central and North Pattaya roads), are really good as well...and cheap at B 40 or so for lattes/cappuccinos. They also have wonderful cakes and are air-con'ed.

[clip]

it is beyond me how anybody can drink that rottgut coffee , even their weakest coffee is undrinkable but some one out there must like it. always lots of people drinking it when i walk by

[geriatrickid]

WSJ reported last August; SÃO PAULO, Brazil—Prices for coffee beans have returned to nearly 13-year highs, defying expectations for a selloff ahead of Brazil's closely watched harvest. Coffee futures have shot up 35% since early June, For refence sake, the beans were trading at $1.84/lb back then.

Guess what? April 27, the Chicago trading index reported this;

Consumers got a jolt this week with news that the price of coffee was hovering near $3 a pound, the highest price in more than three decades, forcing many coffee houses to consider raising prices or cutting services. Bad weather in the world's top coffee growing regions, a weak dollar and pressure from emerging coffee drinking markets is putting pressure on the industry, which saw coffee beans trading

The last time coffee prices were higher was in 1977 after bad weather in Brazil, one of the world's leading coffee producers, destroyed more than half of the country's coffee crops

Ok, so now that you are aware that coffee bean prices have skyrocketed, is it really fair to blame Starbucks for increasing its prices?

Rent, electricity and staffing costs have also increased.

[BugJackBaron]

WSJ reported last August; SÃO PAULO, Brazil—Prices for coffee beans have returned to nearly 13-year highs, defying expectations for a selloff ahead of Brazil's closely watched harvest. Coffee futures have shot up 35% since early June, For refence sake, the beans were trading at $1.84/lb back then.

Guess what? April 27, the Chicago trading index reported this;

Consumers got a jolt this week with news that the price of coffee was hovering near $3 a pound, the highest price in more than three decades, forcing many coffee houses to consider raising prices or cutting services. Bad weather in the world's top coffee growing regions, a weak dollar and pressure from emerging coffee drinking markets is putting pressure on the industry, which saw coffee beans trading

The last time coffee prices were higher was in 1977 after bad weather in Brazil, one of the world's leading coffee producers, destroyed more than half of the country's coffee crops

Ok, so now that you are aware that coffee bean prices have skyrocketed, is it really fair to blame Starbucks for increasing its prices?

Rent, electricity and staffing costs have also increased.

So you are telling me that electricity has skyrocketed, labor costs - they really pay more now? - and rent all up, way up?

Well I haven't seen any super hikes at Au Bon Pain or other chains and what's more

other coffee shops don't remove the basic coffee from their display menu The only reason SB took

their basic roast coffee off the menu is to make people(especially tourists) buy their overpriced lattes and fancy-end coffees. To me that's almost dishonest.

[PattayaParent]

Bon Cafe

Coffeemania

Bake & Brew

Loaf Bakery

Delice Cafe

All of the above have air-conditioning and comfortable seating. They also all have free newspapers and most have free wi-fi (which most Charbucks lack).

As for the chains, they too are all better than Charbucks, including:

Black Canyon

S & P Blue Cup

Au Bon Pain

and even Mc Cafe.

...and you forgot to mention these are all Starbuck knockoffs. Surely you're not serious when you say they are all better than Starbucks. I haven't been to them all but to say McCafe, Black Canyon and S&P are better than Starbucks is preposterous.

Black Canyon and S&P were around a long time before Starbucks came to Thailand, and I'd bet Mcdonalds were serving coffee in US a long time before Starbucks was inventeed.

[a99az]

I'm just a peasant who loves his instant Nescafe (at home), got to have another now. Starbucks can stick there coffee where the sun don't shine. Op's sorry about the typo, cant find the delete button.

Edited May 4, 2011 by metisdead
Fixed the typo for you.

[FarangBuddha]

WSJ reported last August; SÃO PAULO, Brazil—Prices for coffee beans have returned to nearly 13-year highs, defying expectations for a selloff ahead of Brazil's closely watched harvest. Coffee futures have shot up 35% since early June, For refence sake, the beans were trading at $1.84/lb back then.

Guess what? April 27, the Chicago trading index reported this;

Consumers got a jolt this week with news that the price of coffee was hovering near $3 a pound, the highest price in more than three decades, forcing many coffee houses to consider raising prices or cutting services. Bad weather in the world's top coffee growing regions, a weak dollar and pressure from emerging coffee drinking markets is putting pressure on the industry, which saw coffee beans trading

The last time coffee prices were higher was in 1977 after bad weather in Brazil, one of the world's leading coffee producers, destroyed more than half of the country's coffee crops

Ok, so now that you are aware that coffee bean prices have skyrocketed, is it really fair to blame Starbucks for increasing its prices?

Rent, electricity and staffing costs have also increased.

If the coffee was any good, you would at least have an argument. But how do you square being the worst AND the most expensive coffee in town. Plus they have minimal labour costs as they are very leanly staffed...as I said, you have to bus your own table at their shops and I have never come across FREE wi-fi in any of their stores.

Edited May 4, 2011 by FarangBuddha

[tropo]

Black Canyon and S&P were around a long time before Starbucks came to Thailand, and I'd bet Mcdonalds were serving coffee in US a long time before Starbucks was inventeed.

Black Canyon and S&P cannot be compared with Starbucks because they are full restaurants. As usual I need to educate you: S&P is a bakery and also produces frozen meals for mass consumption, so clearly comparing it with a true coffee shop is ridiculous.

Let's stick to comparing coffee shops with coffee shops.

Yes, MacDonalds has always served coffee - so what's your point?

Edited May 4, 2011 by tropo

[PattayaParent]

Black Canyon and S&P were around a long time before Starbucks came to Thailand, and I'd bet Mcdonalds were serving coffee in US a long time before Starbucks was inventeed.

Black Canyon and S&P cannot be compared with Starbucks because they are full restaurants. As usual I need to educate you: S&P is a bakery and also produces frozen meals for mass consumption, so clearly comparing it with a true coffee shop is ridiculous.

Let's stick to comparing coffee shops with coffee shops.

Yes, MacDonalds has always served coffee - so what's your point?

As usual I have to correct you.

BLACK CANYON COFFEE was always called that even though it also sells food, and S&P is a bakery that also sells coffee, much like Starbucks is a coffee shop that also sells bakery items, so they are comparable.

The point is that YOU said these places (and McD) are copying Starbucks (in your post that you removed) from the quotes) http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/465374-greedy-starbucks/page__view__findpost__p__4397561

...and you forgot to mention these are all Starbuck knockoffs

when they were around BEFORE Starbucks.

Edited May 4, 2011 by PattayaParent

[FarangBuddha]

Black Canyon and S&P were around a long time before Starbucks came to Thailand, and I'd bet Mcdonalds were serving coffee in US a long time before Starbucks was inventeed.

Black Canyon and S&P cannot be compared with Starbucks because they are full restaurants. As usual I need to educate you: S&P is a bakery and also produces frozen meals for mass consumption, so clearly comparing it with a true coffee shop is ridiculous.

Let's stick to comparing coffee shops with coffee shops.

Yes, MacDonalds has always served coffee - so what's your point?

The point is Mc Cafe serves darn good coffee and many are open 24/7 neither of which can be said for Charbucks.

In addition, Blue Cup baristas have regularly won best in class at contests. Have yet to hear of Charbucks ever being in the running.

Edited May 4, 2011 by FarangBuddha

[tropo]

Black Canyon and S&P were around a long time before Starbucks came to Thailand, and I'd bet Mcdonalds were serving coffee in US a long time before Starbucks was inventeed.

Black Canyon and S&P cannot be compared with Starbucks because they are full restaurants. As usual I need to educate you: S&P is a bakery and also produces frozen meals for mass consumption, so clearly comparing it with a true coffee shop is ridiculous.

Let's stick to comparing coffee shops with coffee shops.

Yes, MacDonalds has always served coffee - so what's your point?

As usual I have to correct you.

BLACK CANYON COFFEE was always called that even though it also sells food, and S&P is a bakery that also sells coffee, much like Starbucks is a coffee shop that also sells bakery items, so they are comparable.

All wrong again, and you're stretching your hardest in a futile attempt to give your reply the slightest bit of credibility.

Black Canyon is a full restaurant. Not comparable to Starbucks.

S&P is a full restaurant, bakery and a frozen food producer. Not comparable to Starbucks.

Starbucks is a coffee shop which offers a few baked items in line with the established coffee shop model and not comparable to either of the above.

.. next thing you'll be bringing Dunkin' Donut into the comparisons because they sell coffee.

[tropo]

Black Canyon and S&P were around a long time before Starbucks came to Thailand, and I'd bet Mcdonalds were serving coffee in US a long time before Starbucks was inventeed.

Black Canyon and S&P cannot be compared with Starbucks because they are full restaurants. As usual I need to educate you: S&P is a bakery and also produces frozen meals for mass consumption, so clearly comparing it with a true coffee shop is ridiculous.

Let's stick to comparing coffee shops with coffee shops.

Yes, MacDonalds has always served coffee - so what's your point?

The point is Mc Cafe serves darn good coffee and many are open 24/7 neither of which can be said for Charbucks.

In addition, Blue Cup baristas have regularly won best in class at contests. Have yet to hear of Charbucks ever being in the running.

I appreciate you not calling me insane this time....

I cannot believe you are using McCafe as example of a good coffee shop and saying it's better than Starbucks.

Let's use the McCafe in the MacDonalds store at Royal Garden Plaza as an example. Let's leave it up to the readers to decide, but I cannot imagine a time where I would want to sit in that plastic burger jungle and pay 100 baht for a cup of coffee.

[Phil Conners]

Please stop the bickering.

[PattayaParent]

Black Canyon and S&P were around a long time before Starbucks came to Thailand, and I'd bet Mcdonalds were serving coffee in US a long time before Starbucks was inventeed.

Black Canyon and S&P cannot be compared with Starbucks because they are full restaurants. As usual I need to educate you: S&P is a bakery and also produces frozen meals for mass consumption, so clearly comparing it with a true coffee shop is ridiculous.

Let's stick to comparing coffee shops with coffee shops.

Yes, MacDonalds has always served coffee - so what's your point?

As usual I have to correct you.

BLACK CANYON COFFEE was always called that even though it also sells food, and S&P is a bakery that also sells coffee, much like Starbucks is a coffee shop that also sells bakery items, so they are comparable.

All wrong again, and you're stretching your hardest in a futile attempt to give your reply the slightest bit of credibility.

Black Canyon is a full restaurant. Not comparable to Starbucks.

S&P is a full restaurant, bakery and a frozen food producer. Not comparable to Starbucks.

Starbucks is a coffee shop which offers a few baked items in line with the established coffee shop model and not comparable to either of the above.

.. next thing you'll be bringing Dunkin' Donut into the comparisons because they sell coffee.

The words pot, kettle and black come to mind.

You might want to look at the name of BLACK CANYON COFFEE and explain why they would call themselves that if they didn't make coffee, or think that coffee was an important part of their company profile?

Similarly S&P as a bakery which offers coffee in line with the established bakery shop model is comparable to Starbucks. The fact that you are new in Thailand and have only experience of them offering food in some outlets does not mean they were always such.

And now you mention it who goes to eat in DD without ordering a coffee?

Edited May 4, 2011 by PattayaParent

[PattayaParent]

Black Canyon and S&P were around a long time before Starbucks came to Thailand, and I'd bet Mcdonalds were serving coffee in US a long time before Starbucks was inventeed.

Black Canyon and S&P cannot be compared with Starbucks because they are full restaurants. As usual I need to educate you: S&P is a bakery and also produces frozen meals for mass consumption, so clearly comparing it with a true coffee shop is ridiculous.

Let's stick to comparing coffee shops with coffee shops.

Yes, MacDonalds has always served coffee - so what's your point?

The point is Mc Cafe serves darn good coffee and many are open 24/7 neither of which can be said for Charbucks.

In addition, Blue Cup baristas have regularly won best in class at contests. Have yet to hear of Charbucks ever being in the running.

Isn't Blue Cup part of S&P? not bad for a place that's not a coffee shop eh!