Our founders had a simple goal: bring delicious dark-roasted coffee to Seattle. So we scooped beans into brown paper bags, labeled them with the name of the roast and sent customers on their way.
But as we evolved as a company, so did our relationship with the coffee we served. We began to focus on where it came from and what it stood for – and we wanted to share those stories. So in 1987 we started dressing up our bags with colorful stamps, playful representations of what was inside. A tiger stood for Sumatra. Yukon Blend® got a fishing boat. Some stamps were more "artistic" than others (Java, anyone, but they were always interesting.
In 1995, a new approach to packaging brought design to the entire bag, and the stamps faded away over the next decade. But look closely and you can still find hints of the original art, like the romantic rose that graces each bag of Caffè Verona®. And the keepsake cards affixed to every package of Starbucks Reserve® – each is its own work of art.
