"there’s a barista shortage brewing, and Boston’s cafe owners are struggling to hire and retain talent"

BG:

For local owners, it can feel like an onslaught. “There’s just a ton of money, and a ton of out-of-towners coming in,” said Jaime van Schyndel, the owner of Barismo, a roastery and retailer with cafes in Cambridge and Arlington.

Presumably, these investors all want a slice of the next Starbucks and its $80 billion valuation. Consider the competition: The Silicon Valley darling Blue Bottle Coffee, which has a staggering $120 million plus in funding, is opening a shop in Harvard Square later this year. Intelligentsia, which was acquired by Peet’s Coffee in 2015, is constructing a new training lab and cafe in Watertown. Philadelphia’s La Colombe began serving draft lattes in the Leather District last April, while Caffe Nero, from London, has set up 11 shops in town. And San Francisco-based Philz Coffee, which has raised $75 million and has Snoop Dogg as an investor, will arrive this year.

And then there’s Reserve, Starbucks’ own boutique spinout