The Starbucks logo has become synonymous with hot, fresh coffee to go. The chain is the dominant coffee shop across the globe, driving a huge, multi-decade shift in our relationship with the beverage and the culture surrounding coffee more generally. Starbucks may not be your favourite cup of coffee – it certainly isn’t mine. But it’s affordable, ubiquitous and always there, and if you live and work in a city, you’ve probably picked up a cup with that siren logo on the side not too long ago.
Starbucks was founded by three coffee lovers in Seattle in 1971 – Gordon Bowker, Jerry Baldwin and Zev Siegel. At first, the company didn’t even sell coffee by the cup, but was in the business of selling coffee beans and related paraphernalia for home coffee brewing. Its journey from a humble spot in Pike Place Market to reaching practically every corner of the globe has been one of the business’ great success stories – and with it every step of the way has been that iconic siren.
