Almost everyone is familiar with the popular Starbucks coffee company, but have you ever wondered when this brand started? Starbucks is one of the most famous coffee companies in the world, and this is how they began their journey to international fame.

And that’s how the humble origins of Starbucks began…

Today, Seattle is seen as America’s coffee mecca, and many other popular gourmet coffee brands come from this city. Starbucks began in 1971, when the first Starbucks opened in the oldest farmer’s market in the United States, Pike Place Market in Seattle. The name Starbucks comes from a Moby Dick character, and we’re all more than familiar with their mermaid logo, which they say comes from a Norse woodcut.

Initially, Starbucks was a local coffee roaster until Howard Schultz joined the company in 1982 to develop its marketing strategy. Schultz then took a trip to Italy where he was inspired by Italian coffee culture and introduced his new ideas to the founders of Starbucks. Starbucks then opened its first coffee shop in 1985, which was named Il Giornale, due to its Italian influence. Needless to say, it was a definite hit right out of the box.

As 1987 rolled around, Schultz joined with new investors to buy Starbucks and open franchises in Chicago and Vancouver. In that year alone, 17 more stores were opened. There were 165 Starbucks coffee shops in 1992, which is when the company went public with shares available through NASDAQ. Starbucks introduced its first European location in Zürich, Switzerland, in March 2001. Starbucks is now located in 30 countries around the world and has more than 9,000 cafes.

Starbucks hopes to create a positive outcome in the world of coffee by donating to charity, but many have criticized them for the amount of waste they create each year with the millions of paper coffee cups they serve. The Starbucks Foundation was introduced in 1997 to fund literacy programs in Canada and the United States, and they continue to support coffee communities, training young leaders, providing access to clean water, and promoting better education in China. They have also taken the opportunity to launch the COAST fund to offer help in the reconstruction of the Gulf Coast after the devastation of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

In response to criticism of Starbucks for the waste it generates, Starbucks has taken steps to reduce the amount of waste its cafeterias generate through recycling. This is a very important issue to Starbucks and Starbucks customers, and they have taken into consideration everything they received about recycling their paper coffee cups. By 2015, they have set a goal to have recycling available in all stores to collect waste and also serve espresso drinks in reusable cups for 25% of their beverage sales. This is quite a lofty goal, and we can only wish Starbucks the best in its future endeavors…