Starbucks against Vietnamese coffee culture

Starbucks against Vietnamese coffee culture Starbucks brand name is one of most admired famous global business in the world (Moore, 2006, p.7). Moreover, in terms of marketing, Starbucks always is the case study for discussing about it successful marketing and branding strategies. Because of the fall of the economy, it was forced to close 700 stores that were unable to make enough profit and cut thousands of jobs in America, UK, and Australia after a drop in sales in 2008. The brand was also facing the issue of their customers choosing a cheaper option over their higher coffee prices. Starbucks then was applauded for their handling of crisis situations. This report will apply relevant theory and practice of strategic marketing management to explore the situation, contributing factors and management of marketing strategies in the financial crisis sector, reflecting the happenings and identifying recommendations relevant to Starbucks International Coffee. OVERVIEW OF STARBUCKS COFFEE The Seattle-based Starbucks Corporation, which founded in 1971, is nowadays a multinational coffee and coffee house chain with over 15,000 stores in in all 50 states and 43 countries outside of the United States (Pham, 2008, p.8). Serving consumers everywhere (Moore, 2006, p.12.), the aim of Starbucks is to establish and leverage its powerhouse premium specialty coffee through rapid expansion of retail operations, new distribution channels and successful make it coffee a global product for millions customers. Appendix 1 At Starbucks Coffee, the mission is [] to inspire and nurture the human spirit one person, one cup, and one neighbourhood at a time. (Clampitt, 2009). Starbucks has been and always be proud of their commitment to maintaining quality, integrity, and great taste of coffee through the course of its growth and the high value placed on the employees/partners worldwide (LeFort, 2008) . Appendix 2,3 Store Expansion Strategy of Starbucks Throughout the 1990s, Starbucks had started developed a three-year geographic expansion strategy (Clampitt, 2009) then Starbucks store launches grew more successful in revenue (Creamer, 2007). Not just selling the coffee, Starbucks model with opening new stores next to doors and inside shopping malls caused them to increase in value than all other competitors (Cebrzynski, 2007) In 2004, Starbucks announced to analysts that it had a very aggressive target to double its rate of expansion. Their stated goal was to grow to 15,000 stores in the US. According to the report in an article, Starbucks has more than 13,000 locations around the world, and has overstretched itself with the long-term goal of 40,000 stores worldwide (Woodward, 2007, Clark, 2008). Appendix 4, 5, 6 There is a raised question that whether it is a bad business decision for coffee chain Starbucks to expand its brand too quick. (Cebrzynski, 2007) is also suspicious that has Starbucks lost its Starbucks experience by growing that big? (Business: Trouble brewing, 2007) FINANCIAL CRISIS AND COMMODITIZATION OF THE BRAND A crisis, according to (Brown, 2003) is a decisive moment, a turning point, a time of great difficulty, then marketing cannot possibly be in crisis. Mr Schultz, Starbuckss CEO, saw the crisis coming. He had discovered the problem of their own development strategies: Stores no longer have the experienced soul with the warm feeling of a neighbourhood store. At the beginning of 2007, he did warned about the commoditisation of the brand that the expansion from 1,000 to more than 13,000 shops over the past ten years, in order to achieve the growth, development, has led to a series of decisions that make a watering down of the Starbucks experience. (Businessweek. 2007). The decline of Starbucks is the result of over expanding previous years, has been criticized by those who oppose globalization such as ( Klein, 2009): Instead of opening giant stores on the outskirts of town, Starbucks chooses locations right in the range of the inner area already full with all kinds of coffee house. This s trategy relies heavily on the cost reduction by purchasing multiple quantities at wholesale prices like Wal-Mar, however, affected more by the competitors The rapid growth has obviously caused Starbucks some problems. For the first time in its 37-year- history Starbucks lost customers and profits collapsed 97% (Jagger, 2008) during the fourth quarter of 2007 after the ubiquitous coffee chain was forced to absorb the effect of weakening demand. The footfall had declined in the UK, where it has two other big coffee retailer: Whitbreads Costa and Caffà ¨ Nero as well, -$6.7 million after tax, compared with a $158 million profit for the same quarter last year. (Lee, 2008). Although company officials still do not believe growth is an issue (Cebrzynski, 2007), first time in five years, Starbucks was knocked out of first place in the coffee-and-doughnuts category by Dunkin Donuts (Creamer, 2007). And it was the biggest faller in the index by 7 points to 42 out of a possible 100. (Leroux, 2008) Issue Reasons As (Schindehutte et al., 2008) argues that [] something is clearly affecting the ability of firms and business units to sustain performance ), suffering from a rough economy and its own strategic missteps, Starbucks had to admit their own mistakes, much of which is self-inflicted (Ignatius, 2010) In current economy, as a classic dilemma of any big business, while trying to expand, Starbucks not only have to deal with other factors like competitors and the mortgage crisis, they also competing with themselves. Size may have brought success to Starbucks, but it has also led to issues of brand depersonalisation. In the rush to open more stores, Starbucks is experiencing what all successful brands do when they move from being a small, niche firm to a global entity (Golding,2009). Moreover, there are some extra affections from the environment, such as: The brands bottom line has been hit by the rising costs of raw materials. [] now Starbucks isnt for some people said Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks (Not enough froth Starbucks, 2008). Fancy Starbucks coffee has also struggled to compete with cut-price rivals such as McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts, as these traditionally food-focused outlets have begun to sell their own premium and reasonable coffee offer (Clark, 2008). As the financial crisis has spread to the real economy, a perfect storm of negative factors affecting the consumer (Cebrzynski, 2007). The flagging economy and soaring gas prices are responsible too (Leroux, 2008). Consumers are worried of rising gas prices, energy bills, declining home values, the weak dollar, tighter credit, therefore giving hard consideration to how they spend their money. They even already scale back on restaurant dining that made restaurants are slowly creeping out of their thoughts. STRATEGIC MARKETING MANAGEMENT TO SOLVE PROBLEMS Crisis management is much more than coping with a crisis, it is identifying, studying, forecasting, stopping and avoiding crisis as well. (Clampitt, 2009) Continuous improvement and monitoring in business operation can detect and prevent an upcoming crisis (Rhee Valdez, 2009). Effective marketing can contribute to a firms growth through better anticipation of market opportunities, calibration of risks, a tighter linkage of technological possibilities with market concepts, and faster adjustment to shifting market needs and competitive moves. (Day, 2003) For their part, market-driving firms such as Starbucks is demonstrating how business model innovation results in sustainable advantage and superior long-term performance in a wide range of industries. (Schindehutte et al., 2008). When a crisis or disaster strikes, companies must analyze and choose from many strategic plans. One way they do this is by using a SWOT analysis a strategic planning tool used to evaluate Strengths, Weakness es, Opportunities, and Threats. The goal of a SWOT analysis is to identify key internal and external factors that affect the desired outcome. Strengths and weaknesses are internal to the company and include things like wage/benefits, corporate culture, leadership, marketing, and operations. Opportunities and threats are external to the company and include things like government regulations, competition, and economic and social forces. (Clampitt, 2009) The focus for the strategic management to understand the market and industry processes of Starbucks and must be able to integrate valid and reliable SWOT analysis so as to determine future strategies for business development and growth in the global market. SWOT Analysis The SWOT analysis will provide enough awareness for the Starbucks and its business management and operations with regards to their strategic management implying relevant points for their resources as well as market approaches and processes in order to stay in shape and in control of their business environment. Applying a SWOT analysis to Starbucks global expansion strategy shows why they have been successful overcome the crisis. Appendix 7 The business strategy of Starbucks is identical to the corporate level strategy, focusing on coffee-related products as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world and maintenance of great environment for every staff member in its retail stores. Continual quality improvement is crucial to competitive success and the perfect symbol for the dilemma that faces world trade (Schindehutte et al., 2008). Therefore, it is typical to give the promises to improve service, reduce growth and expand marketing efforts for responding to a decline in customer traffic (Business: Trouble Brewing, 2007). Equally as important, company should not lose sight of their brand heritage (Cebrzynski, 2007). A long term business strategy built upon the hundreds of little things on a daily basis which is the key to customer relationships in the future (Cannon, 2002). Re-energizing Starbucks Process When a decline in customer traffic happens to any chains like Starbucks, its a signal that the company should re-examine their positions (Cebrzynski, 2007). It is the market that provides signals both to the entrepreneur and marketer regarding what value is needed, when it is needed, and how it should be delivered (Schindehutte et al., 2008). Starbucks needs to go back to its roots (Cebrzynski, 2007) and make its brand special again. Company brought back the original CEO, Howard Schultz to restore the companys shine. Starbucks knows it needs to do something new (Skenazy, 2008). Re-structure: Back to basics Chairman Howard Schultz take back the reins from ousted CEO James Donald, not only closed 100 unspecified, underperforming locations with weak sales but also closed most stores across the US simultaneously in order to retrain to improve customer experience at American stores and to get back to the core (Creamer, 2007). Besides, Geoff Vuleta, CEO of New York innovation consultancy Fahrenheit 212, had a radical solution that open a chain of microstores devoted solely to making coffee. No travel cups, no music, no machines, just amazing beans and a narrow range of the best-in-the-world coffee drinks,, just moving brand back to the basics. Resource-led Strategy: Focus on service quality experience Everyone should know that nothing is better for a business than a satisfied customer who can talk to others about their experience with our service (Cannon, 2002). First of all, Starbucks really needs to refocus on the luxury coffee experience; the smells, the sounds. They also gained customers positive experience in stores by well-trained staffs who were knowledgeable about the companys products, who eagerly communicated the companys passion for coffee, and who had the skills and personality to deliver consistently pleasing customer service (Whats Brewing at Starbucks, 2011). Starbucks wanted to turn all Starbucks employees into partners, give them a chance to share in the success of the company and make clear the connection between their contributions and the companys market value (Thompson Strickland, 2009). From its founding, Starbucks set out to be a third place to spend time, in addition to home and work.(Business: Trouble Brewing, 2007) To remedy that, the company plans to improve its service. Field managers will spend more time in the stores to make sure service really does get better, and new baristas will receive additional training. (Cebrzynski, 2007). New breakfast line, featuring a proprietary baked and chilled food program was unveiled in September. Howard Schultz said the smell of the sandwiches overpowered the aroma of coffee, one of the chains signature features (Jennings, 2008). Following the lead of other coffee chains, Starbucks will also be offering a customer loyalty card for the first time. (Ahmed Walsh, 2008) In an attempt to rvetain loyalty in the UK, Starbucks has introduced free coffee refills for anyone buying a hot drink and has ramped up its hitherto negligible marketing activity (Lee, 2008).  · Market-led Strategy: Reputation management can take a while for a bad reputation to hit your bottom line, or a good one to increase profit (Cannon, 2002). As word-of-mouth is a primary marketing tool, Brian Collins, chief creative officer of New Yorks Collins design research firm, suggested company should better use its digital resources to learn the tastes of regular customers and reach target audience by creating social networking tools like Facebook or Twitter and blog page. They also used it both as a way to stay interacted, involved with their current customers and look for new ones. According to TNS Media Intelligence, Starbucks spent $40 million in the first nine months of 2007 (York, 2008), launched its first national TV campaign to defend its ownership of the coffee segment from encroachment by McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts and other chains (Cebrzynski, 2007). They also created the site My Starbucks Idea (http://mystarbucksidea.force.com/), which gives consumers the opportunity to post ideas, suggestions, to vote and discuss about what they want to see from Starbucks. If they gain support, these ideas may be chosen to carry out to change the company in its business process, product development, experience development, and store design.(Jarvis 2008) Change will not happen overnight, Mr. Schultz said. It will evolve over time, but I ensure you a positive change will occur. I, along with our dedicated partners, will strive to exceed the expectations of our customers every day. (York 2008) RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE STRATEGY As the company expands, the culture and corporate strategy must be maintained for success (Jennings, 2008). For the recommendation, Starbucks should be able to sustain the companys growth and make the business become strong global brand. What could Starbucks do to make its stores an even more elegant milieu that welcomes rewards and give surprises to customers? What new products and new experiences could the company provide that would belong to and be associated with Starbucks? And how could Starbucks reach people who were not coffee drinkers? Starbucks must continue the fixed-price purchase commitments in order to secure an adequate supply of quality green coffee beans and to limit its exposure to fluctuating coffee prices in upcoming periods. (ThompsonStickland, 2009) Some experts therefore believe its unbranded stores initiative is not only logical, but necessary. It needs to focus on the inherent values of being local; it needs to employ local staff; it needs to be suitably different from Starbucks corporate image.It is a phenomenally successful company that started off as a local brand but grew incredibly quickly, he says. The brand was originally loved and respected by everyone, but the corporate world decided it had become too big. However, David Anderson, director of Cada Design Group, argues that most consumers dont have issues with the brand. Consumers are looking for a home away from home, and want it in an environment that isnt so heavily corporate branded. They think customers are brand loyal or product loyal, but they are not. It comes down to convenience and providing a space people want to be in. It wants to regain a community personality and the image of the neighbourhood coffee shop.(Golding, 2009) CONCLUSION Starbucks Coffees heyday was back when the corporation announced the business results in the first quarter this year reached U.S. $ 2.7 billion, with net profit of 242 million dollars (nearly 300% increase compared to same period in 2009). This is also the result of efforts to revive the brand had been likened to a giant. From the case of Starbucks, what is the lesson for business? Because development needs, the business diversified products and services is perhaps natural. A long time, Starbucks has gone with their own race shop system extension. This group has become the pride of American business people. The market strategy of Starbucks is a classic lesson in the textbook business. More services they desire to acquire a lot of customers. In fact, they have plummeted, but in time to edit. So go in-depth development (product quality, service key) to get a solid foundation for expanding business. But do not be too ambitious expansion width, expansion, missing the core. Marketing once again demonstrated its magic to bring Starbucks back to the track. The results of consumer research shows that of Starbucks, the main indicators in the business achieved a high level of satisfaction over a year ago. Although Starbucks enjoyed success in the past few years, there are a few obstacles looming. Since the popularity of the coffee house idea has grown, some cities wish to issue regulations on the coffeehouses due to complaints of late night patrons becoming uncontrollable. In conclusion therefore, Starbucks was the only company with anything close to national market coverage. The companys efforts to greatly increase its sphere of strategic interest via its joint ventures and the move to sell coffee in supermarkets that represents such ongoing drive in order to continually reinvent the way Starbucks operate its business. (Thompson Stickland, 2009) Amidst the environmental, social, and economic challenges and changes for Starbucks, its chairman, president, and chief executive officer, Howard Schultz, pledges Even during this time of change for our company, one thing that will never change is our long-standing commitment to conducting business in a responsible and ethical manner. Going forward, we will only deepen our approach by continuing to integrate social and environmental responsibility in every aspect of our business. With its various and numerous awards in Best Business, Most Admired Company, 100 Best Corporate Citizens, to name a few, Starbucks is becoming one of the most respected brands in the world. (Clampitt, 2009)

Key Business Calculations and Revelant Financial Flows :: GCSE Business Finance

For my assignment I have been asked to demonstrate compentence in handling key business calculation and basicly demonstrate my understandings of the revelant financial flows. Introduction For my assignment I have been asked to demonstrate compentence in handling key business calculation and basicly demonstrate my understandings of the revelant financial flows. I am able to choose my own business, provided with information needed. For my chosen business I need to do the following: Task 1: I have been asked to explain how business may calculate break even in order to indicate profitable activity levels, to adapt break-even calculations for selected business in the light of changing cost and sale price data, then to recommend appropriate coursers of action for a selected loss making business. Task 2: In task 2 I have been asked to explain the meaning of cashflow with reference to a spreadsheet containing at least six sets of monthly data, to explain how a profitable business could go bankrupt due to cash flow problems and to recommend ways in which a selected business might control its cash flow most effectively. Task 3: I this section I have been asked to explain how a budget midht be used to monitor expenditure for one cost centre for my selected business, explain the importance of budget variance information to managers of my selected business and to recommend ways in which managers might deal with a cost centre that consistenly records an unfavourable budget variance in the caseof my selected business. Task 4: In task 4 I have been asked to explain simple ways of recording transactions for my selected business, to explain how fraud can take place in the process of recording transactions for my selected business and recommend simple fraud detection and prevention measures for a small business. Unit 3 Investigating Financial Control Task 1, a) P1 In this task I have been asked to explain how a business may calculate their break even. Break even is a calculation of profit and loss in the year. Break even is very important for any type of company, because all the types of companies need to found out where their incomes and losses meet. I own a sandwich bar company and I have to found out how could I break-even with my losses and incomings. My start up cost is around  £100,000 but that has nothing to do with on working out my break-even. To break-even I need to know my running cost, which splits in to fixed costs and variable costs. Fixed cost is a cost of my phone bills, gas bills, electricity bills, if I would be renting the property the rent cost would also be included in the fixed cost and also the tax to the

You Suck: A Love Story Chapter 9~10

Chapter Nine It's Like Time Travel, Only You know, Slower†¦ THE CHRONICLES OF ABBY NORMAL: Tortured Victim of the Daylight Dwellers So here I am again, to open my veins and spill my pain onto your pages. My dark friend, after sixteen years of totally boring existence, I come to you at last with a glimmer of hope to break through the gloomth that is my miserable life. OMG! I have found him! Or I should say, he has found me. That's right, my Dark Lord has found me. A for-real vampyre. He is called the vampyre Flood, and he didn't say, but I think he is descended from European royalty – a viscount or a discount or one of those. I was in Walgreens with Jared when we saw him – and OMFG he's so hot, in a totally stealth way. I would have thought he was just a totally mainstream geek or something, with his flannel shirt and jeans, but he asked us about buying syringes and I totally saw his fangs come out. So, I was like, â€Å"I can hook you up with my dealer,† like that, and then he looked at my T-shirt and saw Byron's picture on it and he quoted â€Å"She Walks in Beauty,† which is like my favorite poem next to the one by Baudelaire about his girlfriend being nothing but worm food, except that Lily called that one first because Baudelaire is her fave poet and so she got the shirt with him on it, even though Byron is way more scrumptious and I would do him on sharp gravel if I had the chance. So I went home and changed my clothes and fixed my makeup, and when we got to Glas Kat we breezed by the door like we were twenty-five or something. Jared made our IDs himself at Kinkos and we both look so mature in our pictures, although I think he overdid it with the mustache. Anyway, we were there like ten minutes, and this song came on that I really like – â€Å"Boning You in the Ossuary,† by Dead Can Dub – which is so cool and macabre. And I tried to get Jared to dance, but this guy comes by and grabs Jared's cape and says, â€Å"Blacks fade much?† and that was it. Jared went into a level-five freak-out, and turned into a total fuckwit, trying to get me to hide him and stuff, and then just saying he couldn't take it anymore and he had to go home and redye right then. So he abandoned me to the dank loneliness that is the night and I bought a bottle of water and some chips and got ready to grieve my lost youth, when HE showed up. OMG! Check it, he actually knew Byron and Shelley! He used to party with them in Switzerland when they were all young. They all did laudanum and read ghost stories and stuff, and then they actually invented Goth, right there in this villa on some lake. He is like THE SOURCE! He took me for coffee and I wanted to give myself to him right there in Starbucks. Lily will be totally jealous. So he said I have to wait. He is connected to some ancient Celtic vampire countess and I'm supposed to find them an apartment in the morning. He even gave me the name of a rental agent to call and a big wad of cash. I have to prove myself worthy of his trust, otherwise there's like no way he'll bestow the dark gift on me, and I'll totally have to finish my sophomore year and probably end up in junior college or working at Old Navy or something. So, since we're off for Christmas break, I'm going to call this woman and go find an apartment for the vampyre Flood and the Celtic vampyre countess. And when Flood rises from the grave at sunset, I will get my reward. I'm totally freaked about meeting the Celtic vampyre countess. Flood says she has a temper. What if she hates me? Flood says he's not really into her – it's not like that. It's like, she's his vampyre sire, and they've been together for like five hundred years, so, you know, they have history, and I can respect that. Note: Make sure to find out if I need to move their native soil to the new apartment before we move their coffins. Note: Do I need to have a coffin made? Is it okay if it's purple? Oh yeah, my sister Ronnie has head lice. Chapter Ten Red, White, and Blue, Not Necessarily in That Order Snow White, thought Blue. With the seven to look after me, and me them, I could be just like Snow White. Granted, the Animals weren't exactly dwarves, Jeff Murray, the ex-high-school-basketball star was at least six five, and Drew, their resident pharmacologist, was pretty close to that height, but she wasn't exactly Snow White either. Still, they were all kind to her, considerate, and basically respectful of her, within their limits as a bunch of pot-head punani hounds. They did seem to have a decent work ethic, were loyal, didn't fight among themselves, and were relatively clean, as guys this age went. In a few days, she'd have the rest of their money, she knew it, and they knew it, but then what? It was a ton of money, to be sure, but it wasn't fuck-you money. (Defined as having so much money that you can say â€Å"fuck you† to anyone, anywhere, anytime, and not have to worry about the consequences.) She'd have to find something to do, somewhere to go. As the possibility of her getting out of the life finally loomed large, she realized that she was going to need a new life to live, and frankly, it was scaring the hell out of her. Time isn't kind to a girl living on her looks, and she'd already extended her sell-by date by going blue, but what now? Who knew that the future she'd been hoping for would show up with such sharp teeth. So Blue asked herself the question†¦ Can a fallen Cheddar princess of Fond Du Lac make a life with seven perpetually adolescent party animals from the Bay Area? Maybe it could happen, but she had her misgivings about dwarf number seven: Clint. In her experience, it took a lot of work to fuck the Jesus out of a guy, and even then, he was prone to come down with a bad case of the guilts a day or two later. Not really a problem when you were working outcall, but if you were going to high-ho a whole pack of dwarves on a semipermanent basis, one of them having a high-maintenance, holy-ghost haunting was going to be a problem. â€Å"Whore of Babylon,† Clint said as the Animals led her into the Safeway like they were presenting her at the palace. She paused in the automatic doors, despite the fact that she felt like she was turning blue under her blue, dressed as she was in a silver lam minidress and six-inch clear Lucite heels, none of it protecting her from the frigid wind coming off the Bay, whipping through the Marina Safeway parking lot. Thinking she'd probably spend most of her time naked, she hadn't packed for San Francisco weather. â€Å"I've never even been to Babylon,† she said. â€Å"But I'm open to new experiences.† She licked her lips and stepped to where her breasts were within an inch of Clint's chest. He turned and bolted to the office, chanting, â€Å"Get thee behind me, get thee behind me, get thee behind me,† the whole way. â€Å"However you want it, baby,† said Blue. She decided she'd think of him as Freaked, the paranoid dwarf. â€Å"Barry will show you to the break room,† Lash said. He'd become the new leader of the Animals, mainly because he tended to be the most sober. â€Å"Jeff, send the limo back and lock the doors. Drew, make some coffee. Gustavo, see what the situation is on the floors. We may need you to throw stock on the shelves.† They stood there, looking at him. Stoned. Drunk. Baffled. Blue would think of Barry, the little, prematurely bald guy, as her special dwarf, Baffled. She smiled. Clint peeked over the three-quarter wall of the office. â€Å"Hey, you guys. You should know that the Emperor was here last night. He says that Tommy Flood is a vampire.† â€Å"Huh?† Lash said. â€Å"He's a vampire. That girl of his, she didn't leave town. She changed him.† â€Å"Get the fuck outta here,† said Jeff. Clint nodded furiously. â€Å"It's true.† â€Å"Well, fuck,† said the others, in an unsynchronized chorus. â€Å"Meeting,† Lash announced. â€Å"Gentlemen, take your seats.† He looked apologetically to Blue. â€Å"This shouldn't take long.† â€Å"I'll make coffee,† she said. â€Å"Uh†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Lash seemed concerned. â€Å"Blue, we're kind of on a budget from here on out.† â€Å"Coffee's free,† Blue said. She turned and started heading to the back of the store. â€Å"I'll find it.† The Animals watched Blue walk away and, when she turned the corner, gathered by the registers. Clint unlocked the office door and came out. â€Å"So, we have to notify those cops, so they can help us hunt him down.† Lash looked at the Animals, who looked back. Lash raised an eyebrow. The others nodded. Lash put his arm around Clint's shoulders. â€Å"Clint, the guys and I have discussed it, and we'd all like to do something for you.† Clint ran back in the office and slammed the door. â€Å"No! We have to destroy the agents of Satan.† â€Å"Right. Of course. We'll get right on that. But first I'd like you to ask yourself something, Clint. And I'd like you to answer not as the born-again man that you are now, but from that little boy that's inside of all of us.† â€Å"Okay,† Clint said, peeking over the office door. â€Å"Clint, haven't you ever wanted to bone a Smurf?† Jody heard Tommy come in the security door downstairs and met him on the stairs with a big hug and a backbreaking kiss. â€Å"Wow,† Tommy said. â€Å"Are you okay?† â€Å"I'm really good now. I was just checking on William. I think he pooped himself.† â€Å"I'm so sorry, Tommy. I shouldn't have left you on your own this soon.† â€Å"It's okay. I'm okay. Hey, you have something on your dress.† Jody was still wearing the little black dress. Some of the dust that was James O'Mally was still clinging to it near the hemline. â€Å"Oh, I must have bumped up against something.† â€Å"Let me get that for you,† Tommy said, brushing at her thigh, then starting to raise the dress up past her waist. Jody caught his hand. â€Å"Horndog!† Chet the huge shaved cat looked up for a second, then put his head back down on William's chest and went back to sleep. â€Å"But you left me on my own,† Tommy said, trying to sound sad, but smiling too much to make it work. â€Å"You're fine.† She looked at her watch. â€Å"We only have about forty minutes till sunup. We can talk while we get ready for bed.† â€Å"I'm ready for bed now,† Tommy said. She led him up the stairs into the loft, through the great room, the bedroom, and into the bathroom. She grabbed her toothbrush off the sink and tossed Tommy his. She pasted, then chucked the tube to him. â€Å"Do we still have to floss?† Tommy asked. â€Å"I mean, what's the point of being immortal if we have to floss?† â€Å"Yeah,† Jody said, through a mouthful of pinkish foam, â€Å"you should just go lie in the sun and get it over with, rather than suffer the torture of flossing.† â€Å"Don't be sarcastic. I didn't think we could get sick at all, but your hangover proved that to be wrong.† Jody nodded and spit. â€Å"Don't swallow any when you rinse. The water will come right back up.† â€Å"How come your foam is pink? My foam isn't pink. And I went last.† â€Å"My gums might be bleeding,† Jody said. Jody wasn't ready to tell him that she'd taken someone tonight. She would tell him, just not now. So, to change the subject, she summoned her superhuman strength and pantsed him. â€Å"Hey!† â€Å"When did you get skull-and-crossbones boxers?† â€Å"I bought them tonight, when you were getting Christmas presents. I thought they would seem dangerous.† â€Å"You bet,† Jody said, nodding furiously to keep from laughing. â€Å"And you'll blend in – in case you're ever caught with your pants down in the pirate locker room.† â€Å"Yeah, there's that,† Tommy said, a little toothpaste foam dribbling down his chest as he looked at his boxers. â€Å"I have the whitest legs in the universe. My legs are like great white carrion worms.† â€Å"Stop, you're making me horny.† â€Å"I've got to use that tanning lotion we bought. Where is it?† Jody moved with catlike speed out to the kitchen, snatched the lotion off the counter, and was back sitting on the edge of the bed in only a couple of seconds. If she could just keep Tommy from asking any questions until sunup, she was sure she'd figure out a way to tell him about the old man. â€Å"Come over here, worm legs, let me put some lotion on you.† To emphasize her commitment to lotionization, she stood, pulled the straps of her dress off her shoulders, and let it fall to the floor at her feet. She stepped out of her dress and stood there, in just her pumps and a silver necklace with a tiny heart that he had given her. Tommy hopped out of the bathroom – his pants still around his ankles – one long hop, and he stood in front of her. Jody smiled. Give a geek supernatural agility and speed, and what you get is a superagile, speedy geek. â€Å"You went out commando, in that dress?† â€Å"Never again,† Jody said, grabbing the waistband of his boxers and pulling him toward her. â€Å"These are mine, now. I want to be dangerous.† â€Å"That's so, so slutty,† he said, lisping a little, his fangs coming out now. â€Å"Yep. Where do you want to start with the lotion?† He pulled her close and kissed her neck. â€Å"We have to be careful not to break the furniture this time.† â€Å"Fuck it, less to move,† she said, her own fangs coming out now. She raked them down his chest. â€Å"If we figure out a way to get a place before someone kills us.† â€Å"Oh, yeah, I found us a minion,† he said as she bit into his side and tore his boxers off in a single swift pull. â€Å"What?† But Tommy was finished talking for a while. Blue watched as the Butterball rocketed by her and slammed into a triangle of two-liter soft-drink bottles – the front bottle burst, sending a cola-brown eruption of foam across the floor by the meat case. â€Å"Strike!† Barry shouted. He danced in a tight circle among the Animals, pointing and chanting, â€Å"I own you, and you, and you,† to each as he passed. Blue looked to Lash, and raised a cobalt eyebrow. Lash shrugged. â€Å"It happens. That's why we use diet soda. It's not as sticky.† He had decided that they all needed to sober up some more before they started stocking the shelves; thus the turkey bowling. â€Å"Can someone bring a mop?† Clint said. Because he would not gamble, he was the designated pin setter. He was scrambling around trying to retrieve soda bottles even as Jeff Murray was warming up at the other end of the aisle, swinging a Foster's Fresh Frozen Homestyle in each hand. He believed that he got better pin action off the Foster's because of the savory gravy packet stuffed in its center. He claimed that Foster's had mastered superior poultry technology, and was, in fact, working on an oversized titanium turkey. The other Animals were forced to point out to him that he was completely full of shit as they sprayed root beer on him. â€Å"So you guys hunted vampires?† Blue asked Lash. She had come back to the front with coffee for everyone just in time to hear Lash lay out the scenario for the Animals. She'd held off asking any questions until now. A Fresh Frozen meat missile zipped down the aisle between them. Lash didn't even blink. â€Å"Yep. We didn't kill him. We just blew up his yacht and took his art. That's where we got the money.† â€Å"Yeah, right,† said Blue. â€Å"I got that part. It's the vampire part I'm not clear on. Like a real vampire. A real, blood-drinking, can't-go-out-in-the-day, live-forever vampire.† â€Å"We figured he had to be at least six hundred years old,† Troy Lee added, joining in the conversation. â€Å"Blue, you wanna skid the buzzard?† He nodded to the end of the aisle, where Jeff was offering his spare Fresh Frozen turkey like a sacrifice. â€Å"So you guys, who work in a grocery store, have seen a vampire?† â€Å"Two of them,† Lash said. â€Å"Our night-crew leader, Tommy, was living with one of them.† â€Å"She was hot,† Troy Lee added. â€Å"Vampire hunters?† Blue couldn't believe it. â€Å"Well, not anymore,† Lash said. â€Å"Yeah,† Troy Lee said. â€Å"Clint says that Tommy's a vampire now. We're not going to mess with him.† â€Å"Spawn of Satan!† Clint shouted from the end of the aisle. Drew, who Blue had decided to think of as Doc, because he always carried the pot, ran down the aisle and shot-putted a twelve-pound self-basting at Clint's head. â€Å"Shut the fuck up!† Clint ducked and covered. The turkey went over the meat counter and stuck in the drywall by the window at the back of the meat department. To Blue, Drew said, â€Å"Sorry, couldn't be helped.† â€Å"Well, that's gonna take all night to patch,† said Clint. Lash looked at Troy Lee. â€Å"Could you kill him?† â€Å"On it,† Troy Lee said, falling into a fighting stance, before taking off and chasing Clint around the corner. â€Å"Prepare to die, White Devil!† â€Å"So,† said Blue. â€Å"You were saying?† â€Å"Well, Clint says Tommy is a vampire now, and we should go stake him out or something, but he's one of us, so we've decided to pursue a policy of Buddhist tolerance.† Just then Troy Lee dragged Clint back around the corner in a headlock. Despite being six inches shorter and forty pounds lighter than Clint, he'd studied martial arts since he was six and that took size out of the equation. â€Å"Should I hypnotize the chicken?† Troy asked. â€Å"Make it so,† said Lash. Troy Lee adjusted his chokehold on Clint. The larger man's eyes bugged out, his mouth moved like a gasping fish out of water, and he went limp in Troy's arms, who then dropped him in the puddle of diet soda on the floor. â€Å"He'll come around in a second or two.† Lash leaned into Blue to explain. â€Å"We used to call it choke the chicken, but that sounded kind of gayish.† â€Å"Of course,† said Blue. That trick would come in handy in her work. She'd have to ask Troy Lee to teach it to her. â€Å"And you think that your friend and this girl are really vampires.† â€Å"I suppose. Clint said he heard it from the Emperor, and he was the one that turned us on to the old vampire guy in the first place. Either way, they're not our problem.† â€Å"What if I said they were?† Blue said. Her mind was putting it together like a sewing machine on crack. It was insane, but for once she could see a future stretching out before her, welcoming her. â€Å"What if I said I wanted you to go after them?† Lash blinked at her like she was speaking Klingon. â€Å"Huh?† He looked at the other Animals, who had stopped bowling and moved into range of the conversation. They stood there with frosty gobblers steaming in their hands like they were on wet-nurse duty for a group of headless infant snowmen. â€Å"Flood is our friend,† Lash said. â€Å"I don't want you to kill him,† Blue said. â€Å"Just catch him.† Lash looked to the others, who looked away – at the floor, at the cabbage and lettuce counter, at the turnips, at their frozen charges. â€Å"I'll make it worth your while,† Blue said. Jody lay on the bed watching Tommy turn slowly, back and forth in the air like a pale white-boy mobile. The loft had twenty-foot ceilings with open, industrial-style beams, and sometime during their lovemaking, they had both ended up hanging from them. Jody dropped to the bed after she came, but Tommy still hung by one hand. The bright side was that with the exception of the set of shredded sheets upon which she lay, they had kept the destruction to a minimum. The downside – well, she really could have gone a couple of lifetimes without seeing him from this angle. â€Å"We did good,† Jody said. â€Å"Hardly anything broken.† â€Å"You think that monkeys really do it that way?† Tommy replied. â€Å"I always thought you were just using that as an expression.† She'd thought she could remain detached enough about their lovemaking to stay in control – to enjoy it, but to use it, as it were – but since Tommy had changed, it wasn't like that anymore. She lost herself in it, she didn't just make love with him, she fucked him like a crazed monkey girl. It was good, but disconcerting. She had liked being in control. â€Å"You look amazing from this angle,† Tommy said. â€Å"You look like a man-shaped fluorescent lightbulb,† Jody said, grinning at him, then noticing a change. â€Å"Do not get wood, Thomas Flood. You will not get wood, do you hear me?† â€Å"You sound like my mom,† Tommy said. â€Å"Ewwwww,† Jody said, shuddering and covering her eyes. â€Å"Ewwwww,† Tommy said, realizing what he had just said and about what and whom. He dropped to the bed and bounced. â€Å"Sorry. Quick, put the self-tanning lotion on me, we only have a few minutes before sunup.† â€Å"Okay, but just the lotion.† â€Å"Right, go.† Jody took the lotion and squirted some on her hands. â€Å"Turn around, I'll get your back.† â€Å"But – â€Å" â€Å"Just point that thing the other way, writer boy, you have had all the monkey love you're going to get tonight.† She said it, but she didn't mean it – she'd go another round if he wanted, if they had time before sunrise. Then she remembered. â€Å"Did you say you found us a minion?† â€Å"Yeah, I did. She's going to start tomorrow – er, today. I gave her money to get us an apartment. Told her what we needed.† â€Å"Her?† â€Å"Yeah, you remember that girl we saw in the drugstore?† Jody stopped rubbing, grabbed his shoulders, and spun him around. â€Å"You gave our deposit money to a nine-year-old?† â€Å"She's not nine. She's sixteen.† â€Å"Still, Tommy. You trusted our secret to a sixteen-year-old girl?† â€Å"She already knew.† â€Å"Yes, because you let your fangs show like some doofus of the night. You could have explained that somehow, or better yet, never seen her again.† â€Å"Look, she's smart, and she'll be loyal. I promise.† â€Å"You could have just gotten us killed.† â€Å"What would you have done? Huh? You have to trust someone.† â€Å"But a sixteen-year-old kid?† â€Å"I'm only nineteen, and I was a great minion. Besides, she thinks I'm her dark lord.† â€Å"Did you even tell her about me?† â€Å"Of course, she knows all about you. Knows that you're my sire – that's what they call the vampire who made you. I even told her that you were older, that you had vast experience.† â€Å"Vast? Vast experience sounds like I'm a slutty old divorcee. How old does she think I am?† â€Å"Five hundred.† â€Å"What?† â€Å"But you look great for five hundred. I mean, look, you got my attention. Do my front.† â€Å"Do your own front.† She threw the lotion bottle at him and he snatched it out of the air. â€Å"Love you,† Tommy said, slathering self-tanning goo all over his face and chest. â€Å"I'm going to lock the bedroom door,† Jody said as the alarm on their watches started beeping, signaling ten minutes before sunrise. She'd gotten the alarm watches for both of them, just in case. â€Å"You didn't give her keys, did you?† â€Å"Not to the bedroom.† â€Å"Great. What if she finds William in the stairwell and stakes him out? You could have given our key to a Buffy wannabe – â€Å" â€Å"This stuff is supposed to take like eight hours to work, so by sundown I'll be sexy bronze.† â€Å"There's a bronze vampire in the living room. Why don't you go ask him how that's working out for him?† â€Å"He's impersonal bronze, not sexy bronze like I'll be.† â€Å"Come to bed. And put on a T-shirt. I don't want a sexy bronze stain on the sheets, even if they are torn up.† Tommy sniff-tested a half-dozen shirts, finally decided on one, climbed into bed, and was kissing Jody good morning when the sunrise put them out.

Did Roman Soldiers Eat Meat

Weve been led to think that ancient Romans were mainly vegetarian and that when the legions came into contact with the northern European barbarians they had trouble stomaching the meat-rich food. The tradition about the legions being near vegetarian in camp is very believable for the early Republican era. Scurvy references are reliable, I believe. By the latter half of the 2nd century B.C., the whole Roman world had opened up and almost all aspects of Roman life, including diet, had changed from the old days. My only real point is that Josephus and Tacitus could not accurately chronicle the early or middle Republican diet. Cato is the only source that comes close, and he is at the very end of the era (and a cabbage freak to boot).​[2910.168]REYNOLDSDC Maybe this is too simplistic. Perhaps the Roman soldiers werent opposed to a daily meat-centered meal. R.W. Davies in The Roman Military Diet, published in Britannia, in 1971, argues on the basis of his reading of history, epigraphy, and archaeological finds that Roman soldiers throughout the Republic and Empire ate meat. Excavated Bones Reveal Diet Details Much of Davies work in The Roman Military Diet is interpretation, but some of it is scientific analysis of bones excavated from Roman, British, and German military sites dating from Augustus to the third century. From the analysis, we know the Romans ate ox, sheep, goat, pig, deer, boar, and hare, in most places and in some areas, elk, wolf, fox, badger, beaver, bear, vole, ibex, and otter. Broken beef bones suggest the extraction of marrow for soup. Alongside the animal bones, archaeologists found equipment for roasting and boiling the meat as well as for making cheese from the milk of domesticated animals. Fish and poultry were also popular, the latter especially for the sick. Roman Soldiers Ate (and Perhaps Drank) Mostly Grain R.W. Davies is not saying the Roman soldiers were primarily meat eaters. Their diet was mostly grain: wheat, barley, and oats, mainly, but also spelt and rye. Just as Roman solders were supposed to dislike meat, so too they were supposed to detest beer — considering it far inferior to their native Roman wine. Davies brings this assumption into question when he says a discharged Germanic soldier set himself up to supply the Roman military with beer near the end of the first century. Republican and Imperial Soldiers Were Probably Not That Different It might be argued that the information about Roman soldiers of the Imperial period is irrelevant for the earlier Republican period. But even here R.W. Davies argues that there is evidence from the Republican period of Roman history for meat consumption by soldiers: When Scipio reintroduced military discipline to the army at Numantia in 134 B.C., he ordered that the only way the troops could eat their meat was by roasting or boiling it. There would be no reason to discuss procedure for preparation if they werent eating it. Q. Caecilius Metellus Numidicus made a similar rule in 109 B.C. Davies also mentions a passage from Suetonius biography of Julius Caesar in which Caesar made a generous donation to the people of Rome of meat. XXXVIII. To every foot-soldier in his veteran legions, besides the two thousand sesterces paid him in the beginning of the civil war, he gave twenty thousand more, in the shape of prize-money. He likewise allotted them lands, but not in contiguity, that the former owners might not be entirely dispossessed. To the people of Rome, besides ten modii of corn, and as many pounds of oil, he gave three hundred sesterces a man, which he had formerly promised them, and a hundred more to each for the delay in fulfilling his engagement.... To all this he added a public entertainment, and a distribution of meat....Suetonius - Julius Caesar Lack of Refrigeration Meant Summer Meat Would Have Spoiled Davies lists one passage that has been used to defend the idea of a vegetarian military during the Republican period: Corbulo and his army, although they had suffered no losses in battle, were worn out by shortages and exertion and were driven to ward off hunger by eating the flesh of animals. Moreover, water was short, the summer was long.... Davies explains that in the heat of the summer and without salt to preserve the meat, soldiers were reluctant to eat it for fear of getting sick from spoiled meat. Soldiers Could Carry More Protein Power in Meat Than Grain Davies is not saying the Romans were primarily meat eaters even in the Imperial period, but he is saying that there is reason to question the assumption that Roman soldiers, with their need for high-quality protein and to limit the amount of food they had to carry, avoided meat. The literary passages are ambiguous, but clearly, the Roman soldier, of at least the Imperial period, did eat meat and probably with regularity. It could be argued that the Roman army was increasingly composed of non-Romans/Italians: that the later Roman soldier may have been more likely to be from Gaul or Germania, which may or may not be sufficient explanation for the Imperial soldiers carnivorous diet. This seems to be one more case where there is reason at least to question the conventional (here, meat-shunning) wisdom.