Overall, Caribou Coffee has good intentions, on a macro level, Caribou lacks to professionalism and organizational skill
Pros
Caribou, especially in it's core market, where I was raised with the company has plenty of room for growth and development. They are thriving to develop their people to the next level. The atmosphere the teams and guests create in it's core, Minnesota Market is wonderful. The guests and teams have a true sense of ownership and pride for the company, sometimes blindly. Paid time off is accrued relatively quickly, benefits are decent.
Cons
When it comes to compensation, Caribou is far behind the industry trend, especially when it comes to internal promotes. Generally, those promoted within make about 10-25% LESS than external hires. This concept comes from the idea that once someone is bought into a company they will work harder to prove their worth with a company. Field (store) management, for the most part are paid hourly, based on a 47 hour a work week. Each week, you have 7 hours of approved and required overtime. My biggest fret with Caribou Coffee is that this company is more about sales than it is about people. Each year, every store has sales goals for bulk bean sales, seven times over. Each store is set a goal of an average of 300-400 pounds, dependent on store location, traffic and specific bean promotions of coffee they MUST sell in a promotional window average of four weeks. These goals are non-negotiable, and discipline happens when goals are not met. My biggest disappoint with Caribou comes from Amy's Blend however. Amy's Blend is promoted as a coffee that benefits CancerCare. Caribou donates 10% of all Amy's Blend to CancerCare, up to $250,000.00. Here's the kicker however: The origins of Amy's Blend are Costa Rice, Guatemala, Kenya and Ethiopia, which are the "key components" of most blends that Caribou Coffee offers - including Caribou Blend. Caribou Blend retails at $12.99 per 16oz bag, it has the same components as Amy's, except it has Brazil added as well. Brazil is the most expense component to the blend. Amy's Blend retails at $15.99, with 10% donated to CancerCare. So - each bag contributes $1.59 to CancerCare. This is the cheapest coffee Caribou Produces, it is also the BIGGEST single financial contribution the company makes annually all while masked with aiding CancerCare. Caribou has a major disconnection between the support centre team and the field team. Through my entire tenure with Caribou, through differing and quickly progressing roles with the company, the knowledge, expectation and realistic outcome has only worsened over time which ultimately led to my departure from Caribou Coffee.
