Although, as I noted here earlier, Starbucks has been struggling with its European storefronts, the Seattle-based coffee giant sees an opening in Scandinavia. “The company, criticized by analysts for slow growth in Europe, will open the first in a series of stand-alone stores in Norway’s biggest city, Oslo, next year and then expand to Stockholm,” reports John D. Stoll of the Wall Street Journal (content restricted).
As it turns out, according to the International Coffee Organization (and cited by WSJ), the Finns consume far more coffee (26.7 pounds per capita in 2010) than even the Germans, Italians, French, or Spanish—and certainly more than Americans (9 pounds per capita). Also of interest: The Japanese drink more coffee than the British.
It should come as no surprise the Finns, Danes, Norwegians, and Swedes love their coffee more than most considering the weather (although one presumes South Americans love their coffee, too). And at the moment, one of the hottest Starbucks in Europe is the Oslo airport location—also understandable. Travelers far and near recognize a brand and what to expect from it.
But I wonder how the Scandinavians will react to the overpriced pastries?