Starbucks allegedly accused an Asian customer of stealing trade secrets

[Suburban_Guy]

Interesting executive, to say the least.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/starbu...152158428.html

San Francisco resident Daniel Lui was at a Seattle Starbucks when he says an executive approached him and said, "I wanted to let you know we’re very open with all our technology and all of our equipment, and if you want to take any of it to China you’re totally free to do that," CBS San Francisco reports.

Then the man reportedly added: "You can even get same-sourced beans, but you know what you can’t get in China? Our training."

Lui, who was on a business trip at the time, said he was shocked by the statements.

[vision33r]

They can relax, in China you can't have a local company that can overtake Starbucks easily. There are too many competitors in China that all copy Starbucks but without an massive appeal because they lack consistency and quality. They underpay their staff it's no wonder the service can't compare to Starbucks.

Inconsistent service is the biggest problem with coffee shops that competes with Starbucks.

[Felix C]

The story linked in the OP does not indicate what the customer did to warrant an allegation of stealing trade secrets.

[J24]

Originally Posted by Felix C

The story linked in the OP does not indicate what the customer did to warrant an allegation of stealing trade secrets.

Right. I have a hard time believing that a Starbucks executive would just randomly walk up to a customer and say that out of the blue. It's not like he is the only Asian man in Seattle.