McDonald's Decision to Pursue Specialty Coffee Fuels Its Growth While Taking Business Away from Starbucks McDonald's is expanding its coffee offerings to be able to tap into the rapidly growing specialty coffee industry. The company will install coffee bars with "baristas" serving cappuccinos, lattes, and mochas in an effort to attract more customers. Convenience has become the dominant force shaping the food-service industry but at the same time sales of sodas have flattened while sales of specialty coffees are growing at double-digit rates. McDonald's needed to find a way to offer specialty coffees that would not slow down operations or alienate customers. To do this, McDonald's gathered information from customers of Starbucks and other coffee purveyors to learn about their coffee-buying habits. Researchers conducted three-hour interviews and drove with the customers to their favorite coffee places. When McDonald's offered free samples of its espresso drinks, customers were pleasantly surprised by the quality. Although the restaurants focused on hiring baristas who are "very friendly" and showed a "willingness to learn about the competitor's product," the coffee brewing process is more automated at McDonald's than at Starbucks. About 800 of McDonald's restaurants have the specialty coffee drinks now, and the company's efforts seem to be paying off since Consumer Reports rated McDonald's drip coffee as better-tasting than Starbucks. For Discussion: Are you surprised by McDonald's success in selling specialty coffee? Explain. Discussion responses are subject to a word count for substance.