By MATTHEW DALY
Associated Press writer
WASHINGTON — Starbucks will spend more on health insurance for its employees this year than on raw materials needed to brew its coffee, Chairman Howard Schultz said Wednesday as he decried a health care crisis that could soon overwhelm U.S. businesses.
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By Yuko Komori
TOKYO — With continuing decreases in coffee shops under private management and sharp increases in self-service chain shops, private coffee shops in Tokyo and Osaka are struggling for survival by offering their own particular lineups of coffee.
According to figures from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, there were 150,000 coffee shops across the country in the first half of the 1980s, but that number had dropped to some 84,000 last year.
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According to a survey of office professionals, more than 45 percent of employees spend up to $5 a day on coffee or tea they bring into work with them. More than 35 percent of those surveyed say their employer offers no free beverages or refreshments at all.
The InsightExpress survey showed that offices would save time on employees leaving work to get refreshments if they provided the employees with gourmet coffee and tea.
The survey said 52 percent of Americans drink specialty coffee — with the workplace being the second-most popular place to drink it.