SEATTLE, August 17, 2010 - Over the course of Starbucks 40-year history in the specialty coffee business, the company has consistently sourced the highest-quality coffee from all over the world. With that deep expertise in managing the fluctuations of green coffee prices in the "C" market, we have also maintained the highest ethical sourcing standards in the industry, with positive results. For many years Starbucks has diversified its coffee procurement into multiple coffee growing regions, and we remain confident in our ability to manage this dynamic effectively for our customers while continuing to build and maintain long-term value for shareholders.

Therefore, despite recent spikes in the "C" market, we are reaffirming the outlook we provided in our third-quarter earnings call July 21, 2010: We expect fiscal 2011 earnings per share to be in the range of $1.36-$1.41. We expect to absorb approximately 4 cents per share in additional commodity costs in fiscal 2011, primarily related to higher coffee prices, but also reflecting our ability to effectively mitigate a portion of the relative short-term fluctuations inherent in today's coffee market.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements relating to trends in or expectations regarding, earnings per share and commodity costs. These forward-looking statements are based on currently available operating, financial and competitive information and are subject to a number of significant risks and uncertainties. Actual future results may differ materially depending on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, coffee, dairy and other raw material prices and availability, successful execution of the company's initiatives, fluctuations in U.S. and international economies and currencies, the impact of competition, the effect of legal proceedings, and other risks detailed in the company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the "Risk Factors" section of Starbucks Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 27, 2009. The company assumes no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements.