With a population of more than 600 million people, an emerging middle class that is driving strong consumption, and a robust and resilient economy, Southeast Asia presents a compelling growth opportunity for Starbucks.

My mother taught me something at a young age - she said 'you are the company you keep.' To define yourself by some label or some level of resources - that's pretty shallow.

Starbucks is in my blood. It is such a part of me that letting it unravel simply was not an option.

Customers don't always know what they want. The decline in coffee-drinking was due to the fact that most of the coffee people bought was stale and they weren't enjoying it. Once they tasted ours and experienced what we call "the third place" ... a gathering place between home and work where they were treated with respect.. they found we were filling a need they didn't know they had.

When we began Starbucks, what I wanted to try to do was to create a set of values, guiding principles, and culture.

Europe has always represented a major strategic opportunity to achieve our goal of creating and building an enduring global brand.

We are not in the coffee business serving people, we are in the people business serving coffee.