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I, Coffee
Modified from original. Hat tip to ChartPorn.
Posted by Alex Tabarrok on October 21, 2009 at 11:29 AM in Economics, Education | Permalink
Comments
Tufte would be disappointed: is that bottom graph showing the number of stores or their volume? Why use a 3D cyclinder?
I like the map, though. Effective use of space to display two pieces of information, supply and demand.
Posted by: tgrass at Oct 21, 2009 11:51:35 AM
I'm surprised there's only 6200 stores world wide. Seems like there should be a lot more (McDonald's has almost 14,000 in the US and 31,000 worldwide; and there are about 4200 Wal-Marts in America with another 3200 abroad). I guess my selection bias on the subject is stronger than I thought.
Posted by: David Youngberg at Oct 21, 2009 12:00:11 PM
Nevermind; I just noticed the copyright. Wikipedia puts it at nearly 16,000 worldwide. Still seems low for 2003, though. 16k seems a little low, too.
Posted by: David Youngberg at Oct 21, 2009 12:04:15 PM
I agree with tgrass. What is the deal with those stupid-looking 3D cylinders?
Posted by: Curt Fischer at Oct 21, 2009 12:04:50 PM
McDonalds and Starbucks are very different in poor countries. A drink at a Starbucks in a third world country (or at least the parts of East/SE Asia I've spent time in) costs almost as much or as much as it does here. McDonalds is significantly cheaper than it is here and has a different menu.
Posted by: Careless at Oct 21, 2009 12:08:10 PM
But is it Fair?
Posted by: jorod at Oct 21, 2009 12:27:39 PM
I'm surprised they have stores Spain, where you can get a cup of good espresso for cheap anywhere. It's like trying to take over the coffee shop market in Italy.
Posted by: hibikir at Oct 21, 2009 3:42:30 PM
I have to say, I'm underwhelmed by the graph! It's cluttered, it uses gratuitous volume effects, and then dang arrows are impossible to follow. It's like power point and excel exploded on a my screen!
Posted by: KC at Oct 21, 2009 3:47:24 PM
I'm skeptical that any single cup of coffee would be derived from coffee beans from thirteen different countries. Coffee is often sold based on the country or region of origin. Sometimes coffee from different regions is blended. But it seems that blending thirteen different types of coffee would be more trouble than its worth.
Posted by: J. Paulsen at Oct 21, 2009 4:09:52 PM
I'd think that stores-per-capita was more useful than stores total.
Posted by: Sigivald at Oct 21, 2009 5:22:20 PM
No Venezuelan coffee ?
Posted by: k at Oct 21, 2009 8:54:07 PM
Impossible for the colorblind to tell arrows apart: poor design.
Posted by: Mark at Oct 21, 2009 9:01:52 PM
Glad to see the other commenters are tearing this hideous graphic apart.
Posted by: Paul N at Oct 21, 2009 11:49:46 PM
Hmmm, that chart is a handy way of determining which countries prefer rubbish coffee.
Posted by: Peter at Oct 22, 2009 2:05:45 AM
"that chart is a handy way of determining which countries prefer rubbish coffee."
Such as the Levant, Arabia, Mediterranean Europe, Central Europe, Southeast Asia... y'know, real noobs at this whole tasting coffee thing.
Posted by: agnostic at Oct 22, 2009 3:37:06 AM
Starbucks just announced they're gonna open their first shop in Sweden. So, the map needs updating.
Posted by: Fredrik Segerfeldt at Oct 22, 2009 5:11:09 AM
"that chart is a handy way of determining which countries prefer rubbish coffee."
Such as the Levant, Arabia, Mediterranean Europe, Central Europe, Southeast Asia... y'know, real noobs at this whole tasting coffee thing."
Yes, countries that like rubbish coffee, plus destinations for American tourists.
The only time I'm in a Starbucks is when I'm with Americans, and they're always full of Americans.
Posted by: widmerpool at Oct 22, 2009 5:45:48 AM
There aren't any stores in South America?
Posted by: f at Oct 22, 2009 8:45:07 AM
That's right, Saudi Arabia is so over-run with American tourists -- where *else* would you want to vacation? -- that several Starbucks can thrive there on their tourist dollars alone!
Posted by: agnostic at Oct 22, 2009 4:18:03 PM
And as an aside, my local Starbucks usually has more foreign students than Americans. East Asians and Middle Easterners especially love it. You apparently need to find a better Starbucks to hang out at.
Posted by: agnostic at Oct 22, 2009 4:19:46 PM
I know for a fact Starbucks does not sell rubbish coffee, as I sell them coffee, and my family has grown Q-grade 96+ coffee since the early seventies. There are many issues to be discussed about Starbucks impact on the coffee industry and the market for specialty coffee, and nobody with 16,000 stores is going to sell the kind of coffee's you find in Northern European specialty coffee shops, but Starbucks role has been to displace the big multinationals, the folgers of the world, and that has been a gift to palates, farmers and drinkers alike.
Posted by: nyongesa at Oct 23, 2009 10:22:10 AM
Nyongesa is right on with Starbucks taking on the truely terrible coffee giants. Starbucks may not have the greatest coffee, but they usually don't have the worst either. Like other chains, in a strange town, it's a known quantity.
Posted by: Real Andrew at Oct 25, 2009 2:00:33 PM
