To be fair to the
Pacific Coffee 
Company,
I really don't think
that they are a
Starbucks Knock-off.
Yes, someone
could have
taken the Starbucks
formula & duplicated
it, but business
duplications happen
all the time in any free
market system in the
world, & are a known
strategy for attacking competitors.  

As mentioned at right,
the Pacific Coffee
Company is a Hong
Kong company and
actively involved in community work. As
far as I am concerned,
the taste and service surpasses Starbucks.

Having served as the Marketing Manager in Hong Kong prior to returning to the US where I am the Marketing Administrator for Isuzu Motors Acceptance Corp., I must inform you that yes, while Pacific Coffee Company is modeled after a Seattle Coffee Company, their focus, merchandising and "bean" product could not be further from Starbucks.

Additionally, we were extremely aware of Starbucks entry into Asia as the Vice President of International Development actually had conversations with PCC's founder and Managing Director (who is a Seattle-born American). Plus, Pacific Coffee Company is unique in that it is a Hong Kong business and is very involved with making that city a better place to live through numerous sponsorships and charity programs such as the annual Trailwalker Charity and HK's Friends of the Earth.

If you have any other questions or comments, I suggest that you refer them to PCC's operations in Hong Kong at 852 2805-1627.

I have been told, though I have not seen, that in China product knock-offs are very common. A friend of mine once saw a brand new Jeep Cherokee. He was impressed at the owner’s ability to afford this item, to which he was informed that this was an exact replica of a real Jeep Cherokee at about a tenth of the price. Even the serial numbers engraved on the engine were from a real Jeep Cherokee that actually exists. "I’m sure," he thought to himself.

The Chinese’ understanding of Intellectual Property Rights is very interesting. If one looks for an original version of Windows ’95, often shopkeepers pushing pirated copies will reply, "Oh yes, this is copied from the original. It is very authentic." And they believe it, too.

In Hong Kong it is possible to pick-up pirated software. One place which is popular for purchasing computer items occupies two full floors of an office building called Windsor House. The 11th floor is all hardware shops and 12th floor is software. On the 12th floor is a store dedicated solely to pirated software. They set the thing up so they can vanish in 15 minutes. The stuff they had in this shop was UNREAL - you could buy $10,000 US in software for less than $20 US. Quality is never consistent, though, and one is always in danger of getting a bad copy.

In HK a shopper can also find Polo knock-offs (and the like) on street corners, but for the most part "knock-offs" are not something ones sees everyday in Hong Kong. So, imagine my surprise one day when I decided to go to Pacific Place for a coffee. (Pacific Place is the mall I wrote about in the HK Intro.)

It was one of my first weeks in HK and naturally I was undergoing Starbucks withdrawal. Shakes, cravings, inability to concentrate. The coffee in the office was fine, but with a lack of cream the finished product lacked a particular richness that real coffee connoisseurs appreciate. I had been told that in Pacific Place, on the fourth floor next to the Hongkong Shanghai Bank Corp, was a place that sold "gourmet" coffee. "Well, that’s very nice," I thought, "I’ll just wonder over there and have a look." I have to admit, though, I am suspicious of any place that claims to have "gourmet" coffee.

I approached the establishment and read the sign, "Pacific Coffee Company" positioned inside a circular and familiar looking logo. I walked inside to find that this store was the spitting image of a typical Starbucks. Instead of a green theme, though, they had a burgundy theme. Well, I thought about this scene, turning over in my head the free market system. Maybe it wasn’t exactly like Starbucks. BUT THEN I looked up to see what they had on the menu. That was when I knew they had copied a proven formula because written on the menu were three sizes… "Short, Tall or Grande." Not only that, but the menu was exactly the same as Starbucks. I ordered a Tall Decaf Mocha.

A few minutes later my mocha was passed to me in a cup identical to Starbucks but with a different logo, oh and the standard Starbucks top, too. I looked around to see the various products for sale - all identical to Starbucks. Even the scones looked as if they had come from a Starbucks bakery. Oh, yes, and THERE is the token customer phone. "Now, isn’t that just very interesting," I thought. I took my first sip - exactly the same as a Starbucks Mocha. I walked back to the office turning this whole scene over and over in my mind. At least I would be able to cope with my withdrawal symptoms from now on.  Culture-shocked foreigners who walked by me stared at my Tall Decaf  Mocha, with the question written all over their face: "WHERE DID YOU GET THAT???"

The story gets very funny about six weeks later. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not really sadistic but I DID TRULY enjoy what happened next. I suspect that the Pacific Coffee Company is a small, high growth firm while Starbucks is a huge, fast growing (remember they were one of the top 10 fastest growing firms in the US in 1994), publicly traded company with too much cash on its hands.

In early August 1996, Starbucks announced the first significant penetration into the Asian market. They have a few stores in Tokyo, but this would be there first serious attack. Their country of choice (wimps) was Singapore. In USA Today there was a report that the publicly traded company planned to open 12-15 stores in Singapore over the next 18 months. The next day I went back to the Pacific Coffee Company (which, by the way, has about a half dozen outlets in HK) for a Tall Decaf Mocha.

I happened to chose a day when three other managers were being trained by some Pacific Coffee Company big-wig. (75% of the staff in these Starbucks knock-offs are Caucasian, and any Asians working there speak excellent English.) I ordered my thing from the regular guy and after presenting him with my "Frequent Flyer Card" for stamping, took my first shot, "Did you hear that Starbucks is coming."

"No," he said with a serious but curious tone.

By this time, it didn’t take long by the way, the big-wig guy and three managers were listening in.

"Oh yes," I continued, with a very cocky voice I’ll admit, "they have announced plans to open over a dozen stores in Singapore over the next year and a half." Patronizing tones welled up through my words - okay, okay, I confess I was being nasty and bad.

Well, LET ME TELL YOU, I might as well have been a Middle Eastern terrorist with forty sticks of dynamite strapped to my chest and had just said, after opening my trench coat to display my weapon, "Release my imprisoned brothers around the world or I will blow up the entire block!" Believe me, we were in a big block housing a mega-shopping mall, two hotels and two office towers. You should have SEEN the looks on these guys faces. It was nothing but entertaining. Obviously, they had heard of Starbucks.

The big wig summoned some courage and said, "We’ll be ready for them. Where did you hear about this?"

"Yesterday’s USA Today," I replied promptly and authoritatively.

Amazingly, within thirty seconds, yesterday’s USA Today appeared. The four managers poured through the paper - adrenaline clearly surging through their veins. Despite the big wig’s comment about "being ready", I had clearly just ruined this guy’s day. They seemed to be having some difficulty finding the article so I decided to help them along. As I left I walked back up to them and said, "YESTERDAY’s USA Today, last page, first section."

The big wig looked at me and nodded, "Yeah, I got yesterday’s, thanks," and then he half cracked a pathetic, helpless smile. Well, at least they’ll know and can be ready for the new threat.

By the way, in Hong Kong, a Tall Decaf Mocha is just under $6 CDN ($5 US).

Don't hold your breathe for a cheap Jeep Cherokee -- I think that story is a bit of an urban legend!!