This bit below was copied from the Cambridge Evening News, 31st October 2007.

I went in early last Wednesday morning and the place was absolutely crawling with fruit flies, the walls looked like they were moving there were so many of them! They were crawling all over the cakes and counters.

I simply cannot understand why the place had been opened; maybe they thought we wouldn't notice? I didn't buy anything but my friend and I said we were going to call environmental health. The cafe still stayed open and I can't believe that some people were still happy to be served their coffee, knowing that the cups had had fruit flies crawling all over them and spreading god knows what germs about!

Ewww, I shudder at the memory...

The place was closed less than an hour after Environmental Health were called.

QUOTE: Cambridge Evening News, 31st October 2007.
A STARBUCKS has been closed because of a fly infestation - and told to clean up its act by environmental health officers.

The café is usually packed with caffeine lovers, but a huge number of the insects covered the Market Street branch in the centre of Cambridge, and disgusted customers reported the swarm to environmental health officers.

The officers swooped on the café last Wednesday.

A 24-year-old Cambridge city worker, who did not wish to be named, said: "It was disgusting.

"As I was queuing I noticed fruit flies buzzing above the cake counter. Then I noticed the menu boards had a speckled effect. As I looked closer I saw the 'speckles' buzzing off - it was more flies.

"When I looked at the walls and ceilings I saw they were all covered in flies - there must have been several hundred."

The woman, who reported the shop to environmental health, added: "Having worked in cafés myself, I know that you never open up shop with a problem like that. "You close the door, get the food out and clean the shop top to bottom.

"So, I phoned the council to have a look and by that after¬noon Starbucks was shut."

A Starbucks spokeswoman said: "Starbucks Coffee Company can confirm that on Wednesday, October 24 we took the decision to temporarily close the Cambridge Market Street store to resolve a problem with fruit flies.

"The store is currently undergoing remedial work including a deep clean, internal painting and a rearrangement of the back of house area.

"Starbucks would like to apologise to customers for any inconvenience this may cause and we hope to open the store as soon as possible."

Cambridge City Council environmental health office has launched an investigation after recommending the closure.

Officer Nick Wilson said: "We received some information and visited the shop. The café voluntarily closed to undertake work, whether that is cleaning or structural work.

"As with any food business issues do crop up. We are aware of the situation and are liaising with Starbucks' management but cannot comment any further."

You serious? That's sooo gross & beyond gross. I can't believe that. I'm glad they closed the Starbucks.

The last Starbucks I went to. Was at a reststop & very very clean. Like one should be.

I'm sorry, you saw all the gross flies.

Once you get fruit flies, it is hard to get rid of them, BUT, in the service industry, there is no excuse for not closing down and cleaning everything top to bottom and throwing all the food out.

Every time I go to Starbucks, it's phanatically clean, except this one time.

I must admit, we were particularly grossed out LOL.

I wonder where they came from? I didn't think fruit flies lasted in those numbers much past the end of Summer and it's pretty cold here in Cambridge at the moment.

That newpaper report said there were hundreds.... it was more like millions. One 3' x 4' noticeboard was so covered, it just looked black all over.

At least the right phone calls were made and the health dept. did shut them down...It seems that it is kind of late to see fruit flies, but we are still seeing butterflies and bees...I probably still wouldn't go back there even if it's been disinfected, scrubbed, torn down and rebuilt...

Well, Starbuck's is a terrible corporation that does terrible things to its consumers and the farmers it buys from. I'm not surprised that they didn't voluntarily close down to clean up.

--Jaylemurph

...and anybody who wastes their money there just to be "in" deserves to eat fly poop........


Lapiche- I only buy "free trade" coffee.............

I WANT PIC!!! i like grossed stuff
and i hope you'll forget that soon and not traumatized

Sorry, I beg to differ here... I worked for Starbucks in the 80's and early 90's... they're an excellent corporation to work for and I'd be interested to know why you think they treat the plantations poorly. My experience with the plantation owners (I only met a couple) was positive. Starbucks certainly treats them better than the mega Robusta coffee companies... TONS better. Starbucks would grow coffee in the USA if they could, but good coffee doesn't grow in North America so they have to deal with third world countries and they do the best they can.

The article doesn't give enough information about whether the Health Council closed them or if they closed on their own. It simply doesn't say.

More than likely, the staff didn't know what to do... so they just opened, which is actually not company policy to do. It's just a case of the staff making a bad decision.

What I don't get is that Starbucks doesn't really carry anything that would be a strong attractor of fruit flies... certainly coffee, teas, milk and refined sugars generally don't. Fruit, wine, some veggies and juices do. All their jucies are sealed in tamperproof bottles.

Weird.

Miss --

It's been a while since you worked for them, then.
Starbucks now is well-known in the coffee industry for artificially lowering the prices of the beans they buy in a community, and for buying cheap beans -- it's one of the reasons they roast their house blend beans so dark, so the quality of the actual beans becomes hard -- if not impossible -- to discern.
I imagine that twenty five years ago when their chief competition was grocery-store-bought robusta brands and they were a vastly smaller company, they would have been progressive, but with the rise of collective farms, a bigger gourmet coffee consumer pool, and small-batch roasters, it's easier to find out about their objectionable buying practices and poor quality.



http://media.www.dailytrojan.com/media/sto...rs-736648.shtml

Some more anti-Starbucks info: http://www.talkaboutcoffee.com/is_starbucks_evil.html


Furthermore, there are plenty of places where coffee grows in North America -- Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and even in the US, in Hawaii. If you do know coffee, you'd agree that Hawaiian Kona /is/ good coffee.

--Jaylemurph

Ok, I'm not sure where you're getting your information about coffee, but let's clear up a myth here. This is an education in coffee, not in Starbucks.

Cheap, poor quality beans, physically cannot be dark roasted... they burst into flames during the roasting process if you try. I've seen it happen with my own eyes. This is why cheap brands like MJB and others are so light... they can't roast them any darker. Most poor quality beans are roasted to what is known in the industry as "Cinnamon Roast" which is a light tan colored roast and it's sour and grainy tasting. Starbucks uses what's called a "Full City Roast" (industry standard term) which is a very dark roast, which brings out the natural oils and flavors in the beans... the oils are where the flavors are. Starbucks has used the Full City Roast since their inception in the 70's. (it's the same roast used by Peet's Wicked, Tullys, and other gourmet roasters). There is also Italian, French and Espresso roasts which are darker than Full City. Italian, French and Espresso roasts are always indonesian beans, no matter who makes the coffee... read on...

French Roast is the darkest and because it has to be roasted at such a high temperature, they can only use a few types of beans in that blend. They MUST be Indonesian and the bean must be of a certain size... if they don't... yep, it will start a fire in the roaster. Indonesian are the largest and strongest beans in the world and are the only ones that stand up to this kind of roasting treatment. Actually, SOME african coffees can be French roasted (namely Kenyan and Ethiopian Sidamo) but they rarely are because they have a natural berry-ish flavor that tastes weird when it's Italian or French roasted. Kenyan and Ethiopian taste better full city roasted.



Uh huh, I read both articles, they don't give any real information about where they are getting their information... they're making claims without backup. BUT, I will say this... yes, Starbucks quality has slipped over the last 25 years a little bit. They're having a hard time keeping up with the demand, and they're having to buy bigger and bigger crops, which has dinged their quality a little bit. I don't deny that. But it's hardly crap coffee, it can't be and still get that nice oily dark roast they get.


I do know coffee... and the MYTH that Kona is good coffee is just a myth. Kona is grown at lower altitudes which produces a faintly nutty, and acidy bean that costs a bloody fortune. You're better off buying Mexican, or Costa Rican coffee, it's the same flavor at half the price... you want to guess why Kona is so expensive? It's not because it's a good coffee, that's for sure. Kona is practically my LAST pick for coffee. My favorite? Probably Celebese or Sulawesi... a hearty, buttery, oily, low acid dark roasted indonesian coffee.

And yes, I'm aware of all the CENTRAL American places coffee is grown (All central american coffee's are "sparkly, nutty, light bodied, acidic, breakfast coffees (blech imho)" ... Good coffee is not grown in North America.

Yes, I agree, usually Starbucks is so clean but on this occasion, not so and there isn't much fruit/food unpackaged in a Starbucks to attract this kind of infestation, but hey ho!

It was Environmental Health that 'recommended' they close, otherwise they would be forced to close then it would be harder for them to open

Quote Cambridge News: Cambridge City Council environmental health office has launched an investigation after recommending the closure.

I didn't mean to start a debate on the policies of the coffee pedlars and third world traders lol.

I've read all the literature in Starbucks, they seem to work quite closely with the coffee growers and I certainly don't get the impression they're exploited in any way.

Every company will have a policy on non-exploitation. Look at the co-op in the UK and their Fair Trade stuff, just another company on the bandwagon.

Anyway.... I simply LOVE Starbucks Latte, now I'm over the flies thing, I'm looking forward to my next Starbucks Grande Latte.

like to know where the flies came from

planted there?

*Just* Starbucks?

what would cause an infestation like that?

I actually don't drink dairy, I'm a fan of their drip coffees.

I've worked with a lot of coffee companies over the years, and as unpopular as my view is, Starbucks continues to produce a good quality coffee. They aren't the only ones that do, but they're are good.

Peet's Wicked Coffee is actually one of the best (they're out of San Francisco, and the owner of Peets is a good long time, 30+ year friend of Howard Shultz). I will buy Peets if I come across it. They roast darker than Starbucks does, and their roasts are just a hair lighter than Italian Roast. Most people thinks it tastes burned.

SBC (Seattles Best Coffee aka Schwartz Brothers Coffee) roasts Medium City roast, I hate it, it's sour.

Tullys also does a Full City roast, but it's really a hair lighter than a true Full City. I like Tullys, but not most of their whole bean coffee... what I really like is their Espresso roast blend, it's even better than Starbucks.

As far as Starbucks milk products go.... I know in Seattle their milk supplier is Wilcox Farms, but it will vary from market to market, they use whoever is local. All you have to do is ask the barista what dairy the milk comes from then you can investigate if that dairy uses HGH's.



That's what I'd like to know too since Starbucks doesn't carry anything that would be likely to attact a lot of fruit flies.

No fruit, no wine, no veggies, no unsealed juice, nothing like that... it's a mystery.

It is a shame for sure. My daughter worked in a Starbucks Coffee Shop for a year or two, sixteen months ago. She loved it there and the place was spotless.

I too, wonder where all the flies came from.

Click to view attachment



I personally like to follow Juan Valdez around, when I see him in my supermarket...

Well, it's not my intent to get into a "who knows more about coffee" debate, as you clearly are knowledgeable about the subject, but as you said, you were working 25 years ago.
I worked for Allegro coffee and Whole Foods Market as the departmental coffee and tea buyer at their largest store, in Columbus Circle, NY and I quit a few months ago.



And this just isn't true. I have seen the opposite on many occasions. A quick trip to the grocery store will yield many brands of robusta and cheaply grown or processed Arabica beans with a dark roast. Physically, there is nothing different about a cheaply grown or processed bean that would cause it magically to explode. Quite the reverse, since better quality beans will contain more oils in them.
I will concede this might be true in an industrial, machine-run roaster that does 30-45 pounds, since I've never had to work with that, but I'm not aware of too many gourmet coffees that roast at the volume in one go.



Again, I don't know what they were doing 25 years ago, but I haven't had a Starbucks coffee that was a Full City roast. They've all been French Roasts, at least. That could just be me, though.



Again, this is just incorrect. There are plenty of French Roast coffees that aren't Indonesian. I know for a fact the beans I French roasted every day were usually Mexican elephant beans, sometimes mixed with other Central and South American beans.
A quick google search comes up with these: French Roast coffees, none of them Indonesian.
Why, even this Star Bucks extra-bold /isn't/ Indonesian.



Again, Indonesian beans aren't the largest in the world. The largest are elephant beans, first found in Brazil, but now spread all over Latin America.
Most Ethiopian and Kenyan coffees I roasted (for exactly the reasons you state) at a cinnamon roast.



Ahh, but you see I did back up what I said with links to what other people said. You just went out on your own -- getting several things seriously confused.



I didn't say it was great coffee. I said it was good coffee, and coffee grown in the US -- where you explicitly said none grew.
For what it's worth, I think Sulwesi coffees are great, too.



Well, I'm not going to argue over the semantic of whether or not Latin America is North American or not. As I showed above, Latin coffees can be dark roasted, though I agree it doesn't suit them.

--Jaylemurph

OMG that is so wierd. Even wierder if there was a soup store nearby. Waiter!

I'm not gonna argue with ya much more Jaylemurph...

Except to say that the ONLY french roasted Starbucks coffee is "French Roast" and with the exception of Italian Roast and Espresso roast everything else is Full City. Their French roast (despite what that article says, because it's wrong) are largely Sumatra, Java and New Guinea.

However, their Italian roast has a lot of central american coffees in it. And their Espresso roast contains a number of African coffees to give it a certain caramelly sweetness. of course, this would ALL depend on what your definition of those roasts are. Millstones French roast isn't really French Roast in my opinion, it's Full City. The rest are all cinnamon.

Anyone who thinks that African coffee should be cinnamon roasted has to be crazy. It would taste like sour mash. Which is probably why I don't like Allegro coffee... not surprisingly I think it's thin, grainy, sour and acidic. It actually tastes a lot like SBC to me. I've always called it "Beginner" coffee. For those who haven't refined their palette to the complexities of dark roasted coffee. To me, Allegro would be like drinking a Lager as opposed to Starbucks or Peets which is like drinking a Nut Brown or Porter.

And, just for reference... Starbucks isn't my favorite coffee... Peets Coffee is. They roast darker than Starbucks does, and they always have.

Starbucks roast hasn't changed since 1971... Its the same Full City it's always been. I'd stop drinking it if it was Medium or Cinnamon. Blech.

I actually saw a Costa Rican batch catch fire in the roaster once because it simply wasn't strong enough to stand up to the heat of a French Roast, something they were experimenting with. Only reason I got to witness that was because I'd been invited to the Sodo plant to watch the "Howards" roast an Indian Monsoon coffee that we were invited to taste. That was the strangest coffee I'd ever had... it was aged, exposed to indian monsoon rains, then dried in the summer sun... it pretty much tasted like the side of a barn. Fascinating, but not something you'd want to drink on a regular basis.

As far as Elephant beans go? Have you tasted it? Did you notice that it lacked all the nut-like qualities that make Latin coffee unique? It's awfully flavorless in my opinion... A big bean? Yes. A good tasting one? Not so much.

If Starbucks was trying to cover for a bad quality bean, they'd start to flavor it with vanilla and raspberry and all those nasty spray on chemicals... notice... they don't. There's a reason for that too.

I never said that no coffee was grown in the USA... I said none you would want to drink was grown in North America... In my estimation, Hawaii is in Polynesia, not North America.