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Economy

Italian Coffee Giant Lavazza Lands In UK To Take On Starbucks, Earl Grey

LA REPUBBLICA, LA STAMPA(Italy), THE TELEGRAPH (UK)

Worldcrunch

LONDON- Once upon a time, the English just drank tea. Now, they’ve discovered real caffè all’italiano and Italian coffee giant, Lavazza is planning to invade the UK with 400 coffee shops over the next ten years, reports La Repubblica. Currently there is just one, in Manchester, as well as a counter in Harrods, London.

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Jorge Barrios

Four hundred cafés is a lot of java, but according to La Stampa market surveys say that, despite the abundant supply of other coffee houses already in the area, there is still a large unmet demand. Lavazza has verified that there a British desire for an “authentic Italian Coffee Experience."

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the cardinal de la ville

Coffee chains have been quite profitable in the UK with Starbucks, Costa Coffee, Caffè Nero and Pret A Manger leading the pack. All of their formulas are similar: lots of hot drinks, fancy interpretations of coffee (from frappuccinos to flavored syrups) with sandwiches and pastries that have been paid great detail.

Lavazza’s initial five stores are planned to open in Derby, Leeds, Newbury and two locations in London.

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Ideas

Look At This Crap! The "Enshittification" Theory Of Why The Internet Is Broken

The term was coined by journalist Cory Doctorow to explain the fatal drift of major Internet platforms: if they were ever useful and user-friendly, they will inevitably end up being odious.

A photo of hands holding onto a smartphone

A person holding their smartphone

Gilles Lambert/ZUMA
Manuel Ligero

-Analysis-

The universe tends toward chaos. Ultimately, everything degenerates. These immutable laws are even more true of the Internet.

In the case of media platforms, everything you once thought was a good service will, sooner or later, disgust you. This trend has been given a name: enshittification. The term was coined by Canadian blogger and journalist Cory Doctorow to explain the inevitable drift of technological giants toward... well.

The explanation is in line with the most basic tenets of Marxism. All digital companies have investors (essentially the bourgeoisie, people who don't perform any work and take the lion's share of the profits), and these investors want to see the percentage of their gains grow year after year. This pushes companies to make decisions that affect the service they provide to their customers. Although they don't do it unwillingly, quite the opposite.

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Annoying customers is just another part of the business plan. Look at Netflix, for example. The streaming giant has long been riddling how to monetize shared Netflix accounts. Option 1: adding a premium option to its regular price. Next, it asked for verification through text messages. After that, it considered raising the total subscription price. It also mulled adding advertising to the mix, and so on. These endless maneuvers irritated its audience, even as the company has been unable to decide which way it wants to go. So, slowly but surely, we see it drifting toward enshittification.

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