A news article caught my eye recently, which gave details on how a coffee chain that has several branches here in Berlin was on the receiving end of coordinated vandalism attacks. I wondered, why would anyone do that? And as I dug deeper, I realised it's another manifestation of the urge to adhere to tradition. And when there is innovation, there is disruption. And of course, people do not like that. In this case, people do not like the fact that there's someone offering cheaper coffee than the rest.
I haven't tried LAP Coffee, but given this recent event, maybe I should. I am not following the news on this industry, but apparently this is not new: there's already trouble brewing (see this article, as well as this one) for a while. I suppose when there's a disruptor on the stage, then people definitely have a knee jerk reaction to it, sometimes violently. But come to think of it, why is cheaper coffee not a good thing? I get it, cheaper coffee means the traditional coffee shops would have competition, but then again, this is how innovation happens. This is how we move forward, and this is how new things get developed. I don't understand why people always insist on the status quo, even though the status quo might not be the best thing out there.
I suppose I do get it. I mean, even I use the rationale that if something is not broken, then why would you fix it. But the key here is to figure out if something really is not broken, and if someone else proposes that it is broken, then it is always a good thing to challenge one's beliefs and see if there is truth to the challenge. In this case, is it really the case that good coffee is impossible under 3,50 EUR? Again, I haven't tried LAP Coffee yet, but I definitely would want to now, given this recent development.
Zooming out of this, I suppose this is just another manifestation of the German (or perhaps European) mindset. Tradition is valued here, not innovation. Just look at where tech companies are located. If one wants innovation, chances are they would have an easier time finding it elsewhere.
