Starbucks hosted its biennial Investor Day on Tuesday; here are some of the day's highlights

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Starbucks hosted its biennial Investor Day today at the Starbucks Support Center in Seattle, where Howard Schultz, interim chief executive officer, Rachel Ruggeri, chief financial officer, and other members of the Starbucks leadership team showcased the company’s Reinvention plan. They discussed the actions and investments the company is making to enhance the Starbucks Experience for partners and customers and drive accelerated long-term growth.

Highlights shared by the company include:

1. Reinvention plan positions Starbucks for the next chapter of growth

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The Reinvention plan is ushering Starbucks into a new era of growth, underpinned by a renewed focus on the foundations of its business – partners, stores and customers. Investing in this powerful “Triple Shot for Growth” will continue to differentiate the Starbucks brand and experience. The company announced today that it expects <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2022/starbucks-enters-new-era-of-growth-driven-by-an-unparalleled-reinvention-plan/">deliver 10-12 percent net revenue growth</a> and 15-20 percent net earnings growth annually over the next three years, surpassing the 10-12 percent range shared at the last Starbucks Investor Day in 2020. This reflects acceleration in each and every building block of our growth, powered by Starbucks green apron partners around the globe.

2. Starbucks is focused on reinventing the partner experience

Company leaders shared commitments to radically improve the retail partner experience, making changes to focus on helping partners thrive at work, as individuals and together through new tools such as wage innovation, well-being benefits and personalized career mobility. It’s paying off as Starbucks has started to see results with retention rates steadily rising and on track to return to and exceed pre-pandemic levels.

3. The Starbucks brand is building on strength

The Starbucks brand is more relevant and differentiated than ever before with the number one market share and brand affinity. It’s a strong, relevant brand that is poised for growth. Starbucks has the highest brand affinity among Gen Z and multicultural consumers, who also make up more than half of the customer base. And, among multicultural consumers, Starbucks is the market leader on brand affinity, visits and is the first choice among away-from home coffee drinkers that identify as LatinX, African American and Asian American.

4. Going Global: The digital Starbucks experience is coming to all stores

With mobile orders accounting for 25 percent of customer transactions in the U.S., Starbucks is elevating the digital Starbucks Experience, including through providing real-time updates in the app and a dedicated mobile order pick-up lane. By making Mobile Order &amp; Pay more personalized and effortless, Starbucks will continue to drive relevancy for customers and growth in mobile orders.

To meet growing customer demand, Starbucks is committed to expanding its digital Starbucks Experience to all locations, from airports and grocery stores to international markets, and Starbucks Connect is the new technology that is making this possible. With a consistent digital experience across Starbucks entire portfolio of stores, customers will get a holistic Starbucks Rewards experience, including Mobile Order &amp; Pay and a wider arrange of star redemption opportunities, no matter which Starbucks they visit.

5. A purpose-built approach to meeting customer needs

Over the next three years, Starbucks sees continued opportunity for purpose-built store growth as demand for the brand increases. This includes increasing the number of drive-thrus while also expanding the number of stores that are “purpose built,” such as delivery only and curbside pick-up stores. In addition, this design approach will help modernizing physical stores to serve the increasing demand while creating an environment that is inclusive and accessible, through the lens of sustainability. It’s all part of meeting customers whenever and wherever they are.

6. Harnessing global store growth opportunities

Starbucks is rapidly expanding its global footprint and expects to approach 45,000 stores by the end of 2025 (up from nearly 35,000 now) and 55,000 stores by 2030 – this means opening eight new stores a day. Starbucks is already well on its way; in China, Starbucks has increased its footprint nearly 10-fold to 6,000 stores, and is continuing to grow, as it targets increasing store count by 50 percent to reach 9,000 stores by fiscal year 2025.

7. New, innovative equipment will give baristas more time for customer connections

Starbucks is introducing more efficient <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2022/recipe-for-reinvention-starbucks-unveils-innovations-for-better-customer-barista-experiences/">state-of-the-art equipment</a> putting better tools in the hands of partners and, in turn, driving an improved partner and customer experience. Starbucks has developed a redesigned Cold Beverage Station, which reduces the time and number of steps to make a cold beverage. It has also begun rolling out new Clover Vertica™ equipment, which will freshly grind and brew a cup of coffee, on demand, in 30 seconds.

8. Cold Brew took center stage at the morning coffee tasting

Green apron partners (employees) offered hand crafted, high quality arabica coffee to Investor Day participants, highlighting the coffee and craft at the center of the Starbucks Experience. Attendees tasted Starbucks popular Cold Brew beverage, which has a unique flavor profile that is unlocked by a blending, roasting and steeping process

Photos by Josh Trujillo and Connor Surdi / Starbucks Stories

Woman in green apron holds tray of small glasses of cold coffee, serving audience

Starbucks hosted its biennial Investor Day on Tuesday; here are some of the day's highlights.

What you need to know about Starbucks 2022 Investor Day

Stories to inspire and nurture the human spirit

Starbucks Stories

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SEATTLE – Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) today hosted its 30th Annual Meeting of Shareholders virtually. Mellody Hobson, Independent Starbucks Board of Directors chair, joined Kevin Johnson, president and chief executive officer, for opening remarks following today’s news that Johnson made the personal decision to retire from the company after 13 years of service. Johnson, who served on the Starbucks Board since 2009, joined the Starbucks leadership team in 2015 as president and chief operating officer. In 2017, Johnson was named president and chief executive officer. To ensure seamless stewardship of the company until a permanent successor is named, the Board has appointed Howard Schultz as interim chief executive officer, effective April 4, 2022. Schultz will also rejoin the company’s Board of Directors.

“On behalf of the entire Board, I want to express our sincerest thanks to Kevin for his leadership of Starbucks,” said Hobson. “Kevin and the entire executive team stepped up to the challenge of the pandemic and navigated one of the most difficult periods in modern history. The economic certainty provided to partners during the early months of the COVID shut down, as well as during mandatory quarantines, underscores our core values and will be an enduring legacy for the company. During Kevin’s tenure, Starbucks scaled an industry leading digital offering spanning nearly 45 million Starbucks Rewards members in the U.S. and China.” 

“A year ago, I signaled to the Board that as the global pandemic neared an end, I would be considering retirement from Starbucks. I feel this is a natural bookend to my 13 years with the company. As I make this transition, we are very fortunate to have a founder who is able to step in on an interim basis, giving the Board time to further explore potential candidates and make the right long-term succession decision for the company,” said Kevin Johnson. “I have enjoyed every minute of the job and am proud of what we have achieved together. It has been an honor to serve the 400,000 Starbucks green apron partners around the world and I want to thank them for their service, resilience and optimism.”

Following opening remarks, joined by several members of the leadership team and green apron partners from around the world, Johnson went on to outline Starbucks continued investments and aspirations for people and the planet, and the company’s optimism for a future rooted in humanity, fueled by innovation, and architected by green apron partners.

During the meeting, company leaders extended appreciation to Johnson, celebrated the resilience of green apron partners who have continued to serve communities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and recognized all partners as agents in the co-creation of the company’s next chapter.

Listening, Learning and Elevating the Partner Experience

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Since 1971, partners have been the catalyst of the Starbucks Experience. Rossann Williams, executive vice president, president North America, today reaffirmed Starbucks continued commitment to listen, learn and work together with partners to deliver real, measurable value for partners, customers and shareholders.

“I’m so proud of all we've done these past two years and how our partners inspired the best ideas to lead us through the pandemic,” said Rossann Williams, president of Starbucks North America. “We are just coming out of one of the most complex times of our lives, and I’m proud of how we figured it out together, in service of each other, our customers and our communities.&nbsp;And we are going to use this exact same approach as we build our future, the way only Starbucks can.”

Committing Each Day to a People Positive Company

Virginia Tenpenny, vice president, chief global social impact officer and board member of The Starbucks Foundation, shared during the Annual Meeting that Starbucks is committed to being People Positive – a bold aspiration to enhance the well-being of one billion people who connect with the company by 2030 – rooted in opportunity, inclusion and community.

“Around the world, we continue to listen deeply to our partners to understand their needs and will remain laser-focused on ensuring we are constantly working to enhance every aspect of the green apron experience. This work is never done,” said Tenpenny. “As we enter a new chapter as a global society – and better understand the needs of our partners and communities – there is always an opportunity to do more and a new way to use our scale for good. For us, people positive means impacting all who come into contact with Starbucks with a goal to ignite mutual thriving across all communities.”

Tenpenny shared that Starbucks, in partnership with The Starbucks Foundation, has committed to a series of announcements to support the People Positive aspiration and strengthen communities around the world, including:

In addition, Starbucks introduced <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2022/starbucks-paves-way-for-more-inclusive-and-accessible-experiences-in-stores-around-the-world/">innovations to its global store portfolio </a>to further strengthen communities and create environments where all feel welcome. This includes committing to open or dedicate 1,000 Starbucks Community Stores across the globe by 2030; and ensuring that physical and digital Starbucks environments meet an elevated standard of accessibility for partners and customers by 2030.

Innovating for a More Sustainable Future

Also during today’s event, Brady Brewer, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, discussed Starbucks aspiration to be a resource positive company – giving back more than it takes from the planet. The company’s planet positive commitment was detailed earlier this week in an <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2022/starbucks-affirms-commitment-to-a-planet-positive-future-through-innovation-and-learnings-from-store-partners/">announcement</a> highlighting:

With a global test-and-learn approach to meet the company’s 2030 planet positive goals, Starbucks continues to find inspiration from partners who wear the green apron around the world. Both Michelle Burns, executive vice president, Global Coffee, Tea and Cocoa, and Michael Kobori, vice president and chief sustainability officer, joined Brewer to further discuss aspirations and initiatives underway in becoming planet positive.

"Starbucks is spending this year testing innovative ways to reduce waste and reduce our carbon footprint,” said Michael Kobori, vice president and chief sustainability officer. “Some of our best innovations, like the waste and recycling app, come directly from our store partners. Our store partners know their customers and communities best. When we work together with our partners, we find better solutions to create a more sustainable future for our planet and people.”

Reimagining Coffee Craft While Driving Beverage Innovation

Rachel Ruggeri, executive vice president and chief financial officer, previewed the company's continued efforts to innovate coffee craft through store experiences and coffee innovation. 

“At Starbucks, we recognize that one size does not fit all,” said Ruggeri. “Our success has been rooted in how we differentiate ourselves – meeting customers where they need us to be – from the personal connections our partners make with our customers every single day, to our store formats and menu offerings – it’s how we create your Starbucks.”

Building on the company’s continued efforts to raise the bar on coffee, Ruggeri highlighted its beverage innovation, notably in cold espresso and plant-based products, two of the company’s fastest growing categories. Cold beverages accounted for nearly 70 percent of Starbucks total beverage sales last fiscal year – up 20 percentage points over the past three years. Ruggeri also announced the launch of Clover VerticaTM, a new proprietary single cup, on-demand brewer, which will begin rolling out to stores this calendar year. &nbsp;

Delivering Growth at Scale

Ruggeri also discussed the company’s Growth at Scale agenda – noting the importance of being both people and planet positive while growing the business responsibly with focus and discipline. This is what has enabled the company to successfully navigate the pandemic while continuing to differentiate itself. Other key highlights from Ruggeri:

In looking to the future, Hobson notes, “Starbucks has always been a people-focused company guided by our belief that when we invest in our partners, they create the experience that uplifts our customers.&nbsp; That will not change,” said Hobson. “Today, demand for Starbucks is strong and growing. And I strongly believe the relationships built over our coffee make our world better.”

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Since 1971, Starbucks Coffee Company has been committed to ethically sourcing and roasting high-quality arabica coffee. Today, with more than 34,000 stores worldwide, the company is the premier roaster and retailer of specialty coffee in the world. Through our unwavering commitment to excellence and our guiding principles, we bring the unique Starbucks Experience to life for every customer through every cup. To share in the experience, please visit us in our stores or online at stories.starbucks.com or www.starbucks.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained herein are “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of the applicable securities laws and regulations. Generally, these statements can be identified by the use of words such as “aim,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “feel,” “forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “outlook,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “will,” “would,” and similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. These statements include statements relating to trends in or expectations relating to the effects of our existing and any future initiatives, strategies and plans, as well as trends in or expectations regarding our financial results and long-term growth model and drivers, the anticipated timing and effects of recovery of our business, the conversion of several market operations to fully licensed models, our plans for streamlining our operations, including store openings, closures and changes in store formats and models, expanding our licensing to Nestlé of our consumer packaged goods and Foodservice businesses and its effects on our Channel Development segment results, tax rates, business opportunities and expansion, strategic acquisitions, our future relationship with Starbucks Coffee Korea Co., Ltd., expenses, dividends, share repurchases, commodity costs and our mitigation strategies, liquidity, cash flow from operations, use of cash and cash requirements, investments, borrowing capacity and use of proceeds, continuing compliance with our covenants under our credit facilities and commercial paper program, repatriation of cash to the U.S., the likelihood of the issuance of additional debt and the applicable interest rate, the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our financial results, future availability of governmental subsidies for COVID-19 or other public health events, the expected effects of new accounting pronouncements and the estimated impact of changes in U.S. tax law, including on tax rates, investments funded by these changes and potential outcomes and effects of legal proceedings. Such statements are based on currently available operating, financial and competitive information and are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Actual future results and trends may differ materially depending on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to: further spread of COVID-19 and related disruptions to our business; regulatory measures or voluntary actions that may be put in place to limit the spread of COVID-19, including restrictions on business operations or social distancing requirements, and the duration and efficacy of such restrictions; the potential for a resurgence of COVID-19 infections and the circulation of novel variants of COVID-19 in a given geographic region after it has hit its “peak”; fluctuations in U.S. and international economies and currencies; our ability to preserve, grow and leverage our brands; the ability of our business partners and third-party providers to fulfill their responsibilities and commitments; potential negative effects of incidents involving food or beverage-borne illnesses, tampering, adulteration, contamination or mislabeling; potential negative effects of material breaches of our information technology systems to the extent we experience a material breach; material failures of our information technology systems; costs associated with, and the successful execution of, the Company’s initiatives and plans, including the successful expansion of our Global Coffee Alliance with Nestlé; our ability to obtain financing on acceptable terms; the acceptance of the Company’s products by our customers, evolving consumer preferences and tastes and changes in consumer spending behavior; partner investments, changes in the availability and cost of labor including any union organizing efforts and our responses to such efforts; significant increased logistics costs; inflationary pressures; the impact of competition; inherent risks of operating a global business; the prices and availability of coffee, dairy and other raw materials; the effect of legal proceedings; and the effects of changes in tax laws and related guidance and regulations that may be implemented and other risks detailed in the company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the “Risk Factors” and “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” sections of the Company's most recently filed periodic reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and subsequent filings. The company assumes no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements.

Long-term non-GAAP EPS growth was not reconciled to the comparable GAAP EPS growth because GAAP EPS is not accessible on a forward-looking basis. The company is unable to reconcile this forward-looking non-GAAP financial measure to the most directly comparable GAAP measure without unreasonable efforts because the company is currently unable to predict with a reasonable degree of certainty the type and extent of certain items that would be expected to impact GAAP EPS in the future but would not impact the non-GAAP EPS. Such items may include acquisitions, divestitures, restructuring, and other items. The unavailable information could have a significant impact on the company’s GAAP financial results.

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The company outlined investments and actions powered by – and for – green apron partners and stores around the world.

Starbucks Showcases Innovation for Growth and a More Connected and Sustainable Future at 2022 Annual Meeting

Starbucks Showcases Innovation for Growth and a More Connected and Sustainable Future at 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders

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At Starbucks, we’ve always been about so much more than coffee.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Over the course of our 50 years, with the help of our partners, we have always looked for ways to help protect our planet. Starbucks is committed to being a resource positive company, testing and learning from pilot programs and quickly sharing solutions to reach more people and create more impact.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

We invest ahead of the growth curve and innovate by testing new technologies that help us learn how to create the best possible experiences for our partners and customers. This work is being done in our Tryer Center, at <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2021/take-a-virtual-trip-to-starbucks-coffee-farm-in-costa-rica/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hacienda Alsacia in Costa Rica</a>, in the <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2021/starbucks-announces-new-planet-and-people-positive-research-facility-in-partnership-with-arizona-state-university/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ASU-Starbucks Center for the Future of People and the Planet</a>, and through collaborative partnerships like our support of the <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2021/starbucks-journey-to-sustainable-dairy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dairy Net Zero Initiative</a>, <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2020/update-on-starbucks-journey-to-find-a-more-sustainable-cup/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Closed Loop Partners</a> and TONZ and the Farm Powered Strategic Alliance. &nbsp;

“We set a bold aspiration to become a resource positive company – to store more carbon than we emit, to eliminate waste and to conserve and replenish more freshwater than we use. This aspiration included setting ambitious 2030 targets to cut our carbon, water, and waste footprints in half,” said Michael Kobori, Starbucks chief sustainability officer. “Innovation is how we will build our next chapter, advance our planet positive impact, and boldly reimagine our future together.”&nbsp;

In support of the company’s goal to reduce waste sent to landfill from stores and direct operations, Starbucks is shifting away from single-use plastics, promoting reusability and championing the use of recycled content, driven by a broader shift towards a circular economy. &nbsp;

Promoting Reusables&nbsp;

Our Planet Positive commitment comes to life when we invite our customers to join our efforts and find ways to be more sustainable during their Starbucks experience, like choosing a reusable cup. The challenge is how to make choosing reusables as convenient as you expect from Starbucks. &nbsp;

Our goal by 2025 is to create a cultural movement towards reusables by giving customers easy access to a personal or Starbucks provided reusable cup for every visit making it convenient to reuse wherever customers are enjoying their Starbucks Experience.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

And by the end of next year, customers will be able to use their own personal reusable cup for every Starbucks visit in the US and Canada – including in café, drive-thru and mobile order and pay.&nbsp;

To help make reusables convenient for customers, we are testing multiple reusable programs and operating models:&nbsp;

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Store manager Kim Davis led one of the first stores to test Borrow a Cup in the U.S.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“Customers were just so excited to try something new and my partners had a lot of pride in testing it and giving that feedback to make the program even better,” said Kim Davis, store manager. “I do think that everyone really does want to contribute to a better world, and if we can help them do that one cup at a time, that is our mission right there.”&nbsp;

Customer Incentives&nbsp;

In addition to unique operating models like “Borrow A Cup” and 100% Reusable Stores, Starbucks is exploring what incentivizes customer behavior change through a few ways:&nbsp;

Sustainable Packaging Solutions&nbsp;

While a shift to reusables cups is our primary strategy toward achieving our Planet Positive goals, finding better ways to manage waste with more sustainable packaging solutions is also a priority. &nbsp;

Upping the recycled content of our hot cups is a long-time commitment and an area where we can continue to lead. We are working on doubling the hot cup recycled content, and reducing the material used to make the cup and liner. The virgin paper used in our hot cup will be sustainably sourced and certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. &nbsp;

This new cup should be rolling out in Fall 2022 and in all US markets by the end of 2024. &nbsp;

In further single use packaging optimization, we continue to replace traditional plastic straws with new compostable options around the globe. By the end of this year, will have eliminated PFAS from all packaging in the US and will eliminate PFAS globally in 2023. &nbsp;

Recycling Infrastructure

While our goals are focused on diversion from landfill, we also need a viable and more robust recycling industry. &nbsp;

The company is also launching a new Starbucks Partner Waste and Recycling App, developed by partners as part of the Greener Stores Innovation Challenge, designed to help partners navigate complex and unique store recycling guidelines. The app puts everything partners need to know to reduce waste and recycle in one place; it features store specific information and notifications, a sorting guide and the option to create store specific signage for partners and customers. &nbsp;

We will continue ongoing work with industry stakeholders like the NexGen Consortium to facilitate advancements in US recycling infrastructure. &nbsp;

We’ve committed an additional $5M to continue our work with NextGen to innovate to a more sustainable hot cup but also to work with the recycling industry to advance the recovery of foodservice packaging. &nbsp;

Starbucks has also signed on the WWF led Manifesto, coordinating a call to action from countries and businesses for the UN to establish a Global Plastics Treaty to prevent plastic waste and encourage a circular plastic economy &nbsp;

With new cup recycling markets coming online regularly, this March we will launch a mobile app for partners to help them understand what is recyclable and compostable in their markets.&nbsp;

Together, these experiments and innovations will help us reach our planet positive goals. 

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Starbucks is committed to being a resource positive company, testing and learning from pilot programs and quickly sharing solutions to reach more people and create more impact.

Starbucks Innovates, Tests and Learns from Store Partners to Achieve Waste Goals

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Ahead of its 30th Annual Meeting of Shareholders, Starbucks affirmed its bold aspiration to be a resource positive company – giving back more than it takes from the planet. With a test and learn approach to meet the company’s 2030 planet positive goals, Starbucks continues to find inspiration from green apron partners around the world. Today, Starbucks outlined efforts to reduce waste through innovative reusable cup programs, launched a waste and recycling app to support partners’ sustainability efforts and announced a new pilot program with Volvo to help electrify a driving route from the Colorado Rockies to Seattle.

“We have a bold long-term sustainability vision and ambitious goals for 2030,” said Starbucks president and ceo, Kevin Johnson. “Starbucks partners around the world are passionate about protecting our planet and are at the very center of driving the innovation that enables us to give more than we take from the planet.”

To help reach the company’s goal of reducing waste by 50% by 2030, Starbucks is shifting away from single-use plastics and piloting reusable cup programs in six markets around the world. By the end of next year, customers will be able to use their own personal reusable cup for every Starbucks visit in the U.S. and Canada – including in café, drive-thru and mobile order and pay.&nbsp; Our goal, by 2025, is to create a cultural movement towards reusables by giving customers easy access to a personal or Starbucks provided reusable to-go cup for every visit, making it convenient and delightful to reuse wherever customers are enjoying their Starbucks Experience.&nbsp;

Store manager Kim Davis led one of the first stores to test Borrow a Cup in the U.S.

“Customers were just so excited to try something new and my partners had a lot of pride in testing it and giving that feedback to make the program even better,” said Kim Davis, store manager. “I do think that everyone really does want to contribute to a better world, and if we can help them do that one cup at a time, that is our mission right there.”

Starbucks continues to test multiple “Borrow-A-Cup” and reusable operating models in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, and Singapore, with more countries in the year ahead. In addition, the company continues to encourage customers to bring their own cup and to emphasize for-here-ware as the default sit-and-stay experience, while exploring new customer incentives and technologies, like cup washing stations at café counters.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The company is also launching a new Starbucks Partner Waste and Recycling App, developed by partners as part of the <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2019/a-more-sustainable-company-one-reality-tv-style-competition-at-a-time/">Greener Stores Innovation Challenge</a>, to help partners navigate complex and unique store recycling guidelines. The app puts everything partners need to know to reduce waste and recycle in one place; it features store specific information and notifications, a sorting guide and the option to create store specific signage for partners and customers.&nbsp;

"Starbucks is spending this year testing innovative new ways to reduce waste and reduce our carbon footprint,” said Michael Kobori, chief sustainability officer. “Some of our best innovations, like the Waste and Recycling App, come directly from our store partners.&nbsp; Our store partners know their customers and communities best. When we work together with our partners, we find better solutions to create a more sustainable future for our planet and people.”

In addition, Starbucks continues to rapidly expand its roster of renewable energy and decarbonization projects in the United States, including a new pilot program with Volvo Cars to electrify the driving route from the Colorado Rockies to the Starbucks Support Center in Seattle, providing a string of familiar, reliable, clean and safe places to recharge themselves and their battery-powered vehicles.

By the end of 2022, Volvo-branded electric vehicle (EV) chargers, powered by ChargePoint, will be available at up to 15 Starbucks stores along a 1,350-mile route from the Denver area to the coffee company’s Seattle headquarters, as part of the company’s 2,700 Greener Store portfolio.&nbsp;These DC Fast Chargers will be placed at Starbucks stores about every 100 miles, adding much needed peace of mind for EV drivers, who we know see today’s limited charging infrastructure as a major barrier to purchase. While customer’s cars are recharging outside, drivers can relax comfortably inside with their favorite Starbucks beverage.

By 2030, Starbucks aspires to lead the retail industry in decarbonization solutions, including Electric Vehicle charging and onsite solar availability at stores and in adjacent locations. Starbucks plans to continue expanding its solar pilot locations to 55 new stores this year.&nbsp;

Exterior of Starbucks with an EV charging station and a blue Volvo

Starbucks outlined efforts to reduce waste through innovative reusable cup programs, launched a waste and recycling app to support partners’ sustainability efforts and announced a new pilot program with Volvo.

Starbucks affirms commitment to a planet positive future through innovation and learnings from store partners

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The Tryer Center at Starbucks focuses on fast innovation, making day-to-day life easier for partners and elevating customer experiences, turning ideas into reality in as little as 100 days.

Traditional retailers now face a daunting array of challenges – from applying new and unfamiliar technologies, to meeting the rapidly evolving needs of customers and their employees, to navigating a retail landscape forever altered by a global pandemic.

Starbucks - whose employees are called “partners” - faces all those challenges and more. At the core of our response is the Tryer Center, an innovation laboratory designed to test innovations and then rapidly scale them on the frontlines of retail, where customer and partner loyalty must be earned every day. In Tryer, the emphasis is on fast innovation, making day-to-day life easier for partners and elevating customer experiences in as little as 100 days.

Named after a piece of coffee-roasting equipment (a “tryer”) used to test whether beans are fully roasted, <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2019/inside-the-tryer-center-the-starbucks-lab-where-anything-is-possible/">the Tryer Center</a> is a cross between a laboratory, a design firm, and a dot-com start-up. In a 20,000 square-foot space on the ground floor of the Starbucks Support Center (our Seattle headquarters), you’ll find cross-functional teams of Starbucks partners not only from the Support Center, but from retail stores, as well as senior leaders innovating on everything from products to processes to store designs. The Tryer Center’s moveable walls and working store components on wheels can all be arranged and rearranged in minutes. There’s even a working drive-through window. It is a place where we solve urgent problems, experiment with new technologies and pursue unconventional ideas, without fear of failure.

Hands-on innovation labs have long been common in technology companies, where if you fail to innovate you will soon fall hopelessly behind. Retail is now very much the same. So, we adapted the tech industry lab concept to help our retail company change faster. We believe this approach could be readily emulated to help all of retail change faster.

Wide range of practical innovations

The Tryer Center has hosted hundreds of projects over the past three years, scores of which have been successfully applied in Starbucks stores. Among them are a wide range of practical innovations that a hands-on center can create for the retail environment, including:

Product innovation. Offering new and exciting products has always been a key to engaging consumers. Tryer Center baristas are constantly creating new recipes for our Seattle-based partners to sample. Nitro Cold Brew was a particularly exciting new product that infuses nitrogen to produce a cold, creamy iced coffee without the need for ice. However, we knew roughly 15 percent of our U.S. company-operated stores had space constraints that would prevent the installation of Nitro Cold Brew equipment. A Tryer sprint team jumped on the problem to develop more flexible installation solutions in a simulated store. As a result, Nitro Cold Brew was soon available nationwide at Starbucks U.S. company-operated stores.

Starbucks is actively developing plant-based food items across our espresso, cold brew, refreshment and food platforms in response to rising customer demand and our company’s commitment to sustainability. In January 2020, a cross-functional team led by R&amp;D and Product built “Rev Kitchen” – a Tryer Center “pop up” experience that gave local partners the opportunity to order from a menu of meatless breakfast sandwiches, gluten-free oatmeal bites, a cauliflower cutlet wrap and other plant-based items, then provide feedback on product, packaging, presentation, preparation and the partner experience. In this way, Tryer Center experiences like Rev Kitchen can significantly compress the time required between product innovation, evaluation and in-store implementation.

Service innovation. COVID-19 social distancing mandates heavily impacted the traditional Starbucks Experience. Our stores have long provided a “third place” community for customers to be between home and work. The pandemic challenged us to honor that heritage while also demonstrating the courage to boldly re-imagine how we serve customers, navigating sudden change in customer needs and priorities, as well as evolving safety recommendations and regulations. To do this, Starbucks relied heavily on work by Tryer to rapidly roll out service models that would work in temporarily closed cafes, prioritizing health and safety for partners and customers.

Fortunately, we had a running start. In 2019, Starbucks operations, digital innovation and design teams worked at Tryer with baristas and store partners to rapidly design and test a new store format, optimized for mobile orders in dense, metro markets. An early prototype delivered a high volume of customer orders but did not give baristas enough space to work. It also limited their ability to interact personally with customers – a core component of the Starbucks Experience. The team embraced that feedback and immediately started over. In November 2019, our company opened the first-ever <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2019/new-starbucks-pickup-location-in-penn-plaza-opens-november-5/">Starbucks® Pickup store</a>, specifically designed for customers on-the-go, in New York City’s Penn Plaza, using the <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2020/how-to-pay-at-starbucks/">Starbucks® App</a> as the primary ordering and payment method for customers. This was a great leap forward in diversifying our store portfolio to provide experiences aligned with evolving customer needs. We will go on innovating to blend the traditional sit-and-stay cafe with on-the-go experiences.

Partner Experience. To support operations and design practical and seamless ways of working for stores, Tryer boasts a dedicated group of cross-functional partners, and a rotation of more than 20 partners from retail stores. The team’s efforts are focused on initiatives that improve the partner experience and reduce complexity. Designing partner-focused efforts in a simulated store environment unlock the ability for the company to quickly emulate and solve real-life challenges with practical and effective solutions as a result of collaboration between support center and store partners. Currently, Tryer’s test and learn approach is focused on several initiatives including store engine &amp; station layout redesigns, innovative store equipment and technology, and evolving operational roles and routines for Starbucks stores.

Crisis Response. In March 2020, soon after the burgeoning pandemic forced the temporary closure of ~4,000 company-operated Starbucks stores in the U.S. and Canada, Tryer partnered with our Operation Services team to quickly produce 18 videos that guided partners through the complete shutdown of all store equipment, a task they had never before been asked to complete. Subsequent Tryer Center videos supported store reopening efforts, with a focus on partner safety, to simplify the start-up process for partners. These videos were shot on a smartphone – embracing the Tryer Center’s scrappy style. Equipment engineers and facility team partners remotely supported video production through a Microsoft Teams live stream.

The Tryer Center shaped several other important responses to the COVID crisis:

Social Responsibility. Customers and talent alike are increasingly drawn to brands they perceive to be a force for good in the world. This is an expectation Starbucks strives to live up to in ways that go beyond what is expected. In that spirit, Starbucks and several other businesses, including Microsoft and Kaiser Permanente, joined forces with Jay Inslee, governor of Washington state, to establish the Washington State Vaccine Command and Coordination Center&nbsp;(WSVCCC), a public-private partnership to help with vaccine logistics.

In January 2021, a small team from Tryer jumped straight in, visiting early vaccination sites in Seattle and talking to health care workers to better understand how their operations were performing. They found that the pain points in the process were neither technical nor medical, but rather the logistics of people movement, communications, wayfinding and physical design of space – variables in which Starbucks excels at scale every day. Starbucks then used its Tryer Center <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2021/offering-to-serve-starbucks-joins-effort-to-help-speed-covid-19-vaccination-delivery/">to simulate vaccination sites</a> that could deliver optimum efficiency, throughput and patient experience.

The resulting insights helped accelerate the operations of several different models for vaccination including vaccination clinics, drive-through clinics and mobile pop-ups to reach people in rural and underserved areas.

Why the Tryer Center works

Mission focus. The Tryer Center is not about innovation for its own sake. We focus on developing and proving out practical ideas that are relevant to our partners, our customers, and our business.

Speed. We’ve gone from a long-cycle approach to innovation to one where our goal is to get from idea to action in just 100 days. That supercharges every project with a sense of urgency.

Hands on. Rather than relying on large teams working in silos, away from the settings where we actually serve customers, we now have small cross-functional teams of partners and leaders who come up with fresh ideas, try them out right away in the Tryer Center’s modular store setting, then rapidly improve on them until they are ready to implement in our stores.&nbsp;

Openness. Unlike many innovation labs, the Tryer Center is no walled garden. Its staff comes from all across the business, including baristas who split their time between the innovation hub and working behind the counter in stores. Partners around the world can also contribute via Springboard, a Starbucks innovation crowdsourcing website where they can vote on existing projects, make suggestions and offer up new ideas.

Fail safe. Every company says let’s fail fast to gain knowledge, but to do that, you have to create and maintain an environment in which it is psychologically safe for people to fail. The Tryer Center is a place where ideas are free to evolve and collide. This quickly reveals which ideas will actually work best in our stores.&nbsp;

The result? An innovation platform that can quickly overcome obstacles as they arise, while helping our global retail enterprise change even faster than today’s retail environment.

Natarajan “Venkat” Venkatakrishnan is Starbucks vice president, Engineering - Equipment, Packaging, Processing and the Tryer Center.

Partners in green aprons working at lab tables

The Tryer Center at Starbucks focuses on fast innovation, making day-to-day life easier for partners and elevating customer experiences, turning ideas into reality in as little as 100 days.

Starbucks brews up a recipe for making retail change faster

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Starbucks introduces two new plant-based iced shaken espresso beverages along with the national launch of oatmilk in stores this spring.

There’s always been a romance to espresso. It starts with the low rumble of the bean grinder, then that bubbling hiss you hear as the perfect espresso shot cascades into the cup. The crescendo comes with the flick of the wrist as a barista swirls a beautiful cap of foam. You can practically hear Italian opera humming along.

Shaking it up

In the summer of 2003, Starbucks added another bit of the theater to the Starbucks experience with the introduction of its hand-shaken iced coffee and teas. The technique, modeled after mixology, cooled the beverage quickly and allowed the ingredients to mix perfectly to bring out their flavors. It added refreshing new beverage options on warm weather afternoons, along with some visual flair behind the bar and the soothing sound of swooshing ice. Baristas even wore T-shirts that season with a design that featured tumbling shakers murmuring, “Shake, shake, shake … ahhh.”

In the nearly two decades since shaking things up with those firsthand-shaken beverages, <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2019/iced-coffee-and-urban-moose-life-at-the-northernmost-starbucks-on-the-planet/">cold is not just for summer afternoons anymore</a>. Changing demographics are helping drive this shift, with a <a href="https://s22.q4cdn.com/869488222/files/doc_downloads/2020/12/Starbucks-Investor-Day-Transcript_12-9-2020.pdf">growing number of customers</a> favoring cold beverages. In the past four years alone, cold beverage sales at Starbucks have <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/top-things-to-know-about-starbucks-investor-day/">grown by nearly 45 percent</a>. Starbucks customers are also embracing and increasingly asking for more non-dairy choices. Following positive partner (employee) and customer feedback from the regional roll-outs of oatmilk across the <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/starbucks-introduces-first-new-beverages-of-2020/">Mid-West</a> and <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/starbucks-adds-new-drinks-and-food-to-summer-menu-nationwide/">California</a>, oatmilk will be the fourth non-dairy milk available to customers in the U.S. to enjoy (alongside other permanent favorites soymilk, coconutmilk and almondmilk).

Introducing the new Iced Shaken Espresso lineup

Thirsty yet? Starting Mar. 2, Starbucks is adding two new iced (and plant-based!) shaken espresso beverages to its core menu to stores in the United States: Iced Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken Espresso and Iced Chocolate Almondmilk Shaken Espresso along with the national launch of <a href="https://www.starbucks.com/menu/product/2123163/hot?parent=%2Fdrinks%2Fhot-coffees%2Flattes">Honey Oatmilk Latte</a> (previously only available regionally). &nbsp;&nbsp;

“The fun thing about shaking is it adds another dimension to the beverage,” said Alicia Binion, senior product developer on Starbucks beverage development team. “It creates a rich texture on your palate – by just adding air. When you take that first sip, you get a wonderful froth that is infused with flavor.”

Iced Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken Espresso

The new <a>Iced Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken Espresso </a>starts with shots of Starbucks® Blonde Espresso, shaken with brown sugar and cinnamon and topped with oatmilk.

“The delicate sweetness and the depth from the brown sugar pairs really well with the cinnamon and the Starbucks Blonde Espresso,” said Binion. “All these warm and comforting flavors are also delicious cold.”

Iced Chocolate Almondmilk Shaken Espresso

Iced Chocolate Almondmilk Shaken Espresso&nbsp;is made with Starbucks® Blonde Espresso, cocoa and notes of malt shaken and topped with almondmilk.

“This beverage has some complexity to it with notes of a chocolate malt that complement the nuttiness of the almondmilk,” she said. “It’s fun with a little bit of familiarity at the same time.”

Iced Shaken Espresso<a> </a>rounds out the iced shaken espresso lineup, a reimagining of the classic Starbucks <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2016/starbucks-doubleshot-on-ice-is-back-on-the-cold-bar-menu/">Doubleshot® on Ice</a> (first introduced in 2015) made with Starbucks rich, full-bodied signature espresso that’s been chilled and mellowed with a touch of 2 percent milk and just enough sweetness.

“All of the iced shaken espresso beverages are coffee-forward with delicate sweetness and delicious flavors like chocolate malt or brown sugar found in the new beverage duo,” she said. “They have more espresso than a traditional latte, so it’s perfect for an afternoon pick-me-up.”

Now serving: Oatly Oatmilk

Joining <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2021/starbucks-launches-new-non-dairy-iced-shaken-espresso-beverages-and-oatly-oatmilk/">the spring menu at Starbucks </a>is the national rollout of <a href="https://www.starbucks.com/menu/product/2123163/hot?parent=%2Fdrinks%2Fhot-coffees%2Flattes">Honey Oatmilk Latte</a>, which arrives in stores along with the national launch of Oatly oatmilk. The beverage, a customer favorite since its <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/starbucks-introduces-first-new-beverages-of-2020/">regional introduction one year ago</a>, combines oatmilk and Starbucks® Blonde Espresso with a hint of honey and a toasted honey topping. Available hot and iced.

Shake things up a little with Starbucks new non-dairy iced shaken espresso beverages - Starbucks Stories

Shake things up a little with Starbucks new non-dairy iced shaken espresso beverages

Starbucks introduces two new plant-based iced shaken espresso beverages along with the national launch of oatmilk in stores this spring.

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Kevin Johnson, Starbucks ceo, believes in bringing ideas to action in 100 days. This new way of working is designed to improve the customer experience and the day-to-day lives of partners working in Starbucks stores around the globe.

Kevin Johnson quietly strides out of his office on the eighth floor – alone, no entourage – and into a nearby elevator, where he pushes the button for the first floor.

There, the Starbucks chief executive officer rounds a corner and opens a massive, industrial metal door to enter the Tryer Center, the company’s secret sandbox for every flavor of innovation, from product to process to store design. Since it quietly opened in November, more than 130 projects have been developed and tested at Tryer Center and dozens have already made their way into stores. 

Though he often visits several times a week, heads still turn as he wanders the bright, airy 20,000 square-foot space which, with its 3D printer, prototype sketches and neon signs, looks like a cross between a laboratory, a design firm and a dot-com startup. Starbucks partners wave and smile.

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“Hi. What you got going on here?” he says, and then listens as they tell him about how they created a new pomegranate-flavored iced beverage or built a prototype for a one-cup coffee brewer or developed a new system for customers to pick up their mobile orders.

“Great!” Johnson says, smiling broadly before launching into a bevy of follow-up questions. Almost always, the last one is, “When can we try this in stores?”

Located on the ground floor of the company’s Seattle headquarters, Tryer has become a hub – a Tesla coil powering ideation and curiosity. Starbucks senior leaders, partners, and baristas can hack and hustle there in small, cross-functional teams, moving from words on Post-Its and sketches to real-life prototypes and action in record speed.

It’s not innovation for the sake of innovation, Johnson said. Rather, it’s obsessively focused on and in service of partners and customers – of making day-to-day life easier and better for partners and elevating every aspect of the customer experience.

“We are embracing new ideas and innovating in ways that are relevant to our customers, inspiring to our partners, and meaningful to our business,” he said.

The Tryer Center’s moveable, cardboard walls and working store components on wheels can all be arranged and rearranged in minutes. There’s even a working drive-through window. Precious little in the space is fixed, not the meeting spaces nor the thinking of the people in them. This is all very much by design. 

“For me, the Tryer Center is sort of the physical manifestation of a new way of working at Starbucks,” said Johnson, 58, who took on the role of chief executive officer in 2017. “Scale and complexity can be the enemy of speed. We realized two years ago we had to change the way we work in order to be more agile.”

It goes without saying that any large, global company, such as Starbucks, with more than 30,000 stores worldwide and 330,000 partners serving 100 million customers a week, can find it difficult to be as nimble as a startup. Changes – whether in product, process or mindset – can take time to roll out. But, perhaps because of his more than 30 years as a leader in tech, an industry where even the briefest stagnancy can be akin to extinction, Johnson wears a different kind of watch. At Starbucks, he wants innovation to be measured not in years or months, but days. One hundred days, to be exact.

“We’ve gone from a long-cycle approach to innovation to one where we try to go from idea to action in 100 days, and we learn and adapt along the way,” Johnson said. “We’ve gone from large teams working in silos to smaller, cross-functional teams and from evaluating every idea as pass-fail to rapid iteration. We’re using data science and machine learning to inform process and product development. We’re listening to customers like never before, both quantitatively and qualitatively. We’re empowering partners, all partners, unlocking energy from them to help us carve the path forward for the company.”

As he said all this, Johnson gestured excitedly, barely taking a breath. He has hit a sweet spot in his tenure at the company – a spot where carrying the torch of an iconic coffee company successfully into the future has collided with his fast-twitch tech pedigree, analytical mind and team-centric leadership style. 

“People have said, ‘How does a tech guy end up running a coffee company?’” Johnson said, chuckling. “But in the technology industry, if you fail to innovate or reinvent, you fall behind. I'm excited to leverage some of those learnings here, and to apply them to a company so grounded in the human experience and that touches so many lives on a weekly basis.”

Listening for great ideas

Levi Underwood, a lanky, blue-haired shift supervisor at a store in downtown Seattle, has made something of a name for himself in the realm of “con drinks.”

“Convention drinks,” he explained. “PAX, Sakura-Con, Emerald City Comic Con – every year it’s a tradition for the stores closest to those conventions to have secret comic-themed beverages. People come in every year just to try them.” 

Underwood is one of a handful of baristas who now split their time between working in stores and working in the Tryer Center, innovating and helping make sure that what’s developed at Tryer will improve the experience not only for the customers, but also in the day-to-day lives of partners working in Starbucks around the globe. (Aptly, a “tryer” is the tool on a drum roaster used to collect a sample of coffee beans to track their roasting progress.)

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