I call them ‘teases’, because each successive ‘drip’ of news on CEO Brian Niccol’s plans to streamline his premium coffee chain’s menu builds on the last like bricks in a wall… Latest leaks indicate a 30 percent cut in Starbuck’s menu…
Starbuck’s baristas will be happy to hear, they’ll soon have 1/3 fewer fancy beverages
to deal with! Franchisees will have 30 percent less inventory to carry…
Big menu cuts, indeed…
Starbuck’s new CEO, Brian Niccol, appointed last fall, has leaked a few more details of the chain’s plans to streamline its menu.
Shareholders and reporters alike were eager to hear what new tidbits Niccol was prepared to share during the company’s first-quarter fiscal year 2025 earnings call, last week. He confirmed the premium coffee giant will be reducing its food and beverage offerings by nearly a third by the end of this year. But he offered no details on the future of individual selections.
“In the coming months, you’ll see us begin to optimize our menu offerings,” Niccol said during the call. ““It’s a little bit of everything is how I would describe it,” Niccol said. “Really what we focused on is what are the items that are not, frankly, selling a lot every day?”
Niccol did explain, he’s ordered his people to, “clear the noise,” to make way for, “better innovations.”
Just the latest refinement
The 30 percent commitment was just the latest refinement to surface in Niccol’s overall ‘Back to Starbuck’s’ program. It’s designed to return the chain to its roots. That, Niccol reminded the world late last fall, means, turning back the ‘culture clock’, making the chain more like it’s original model: a community hangout where folks could meet their friends and neighbours. Starbuck’s founder Howard Schwartz said he envisioned it as a ‘third place’ between home and office.
Earlier last week, Starbuck’s announced it would be bringing back it’s much lamented ‘for-here ware’ policy under which customers would be served food and beverages for consumption in the restaurant in reusable crockery and glass containers. They’ll also be able to bring their own reusable cups to the shop again, and request free refills of regular coffees and teas.
The chain even earlier confirmed it would no longer charge extra for non-dairy milks. And revealed it was going to re-arrange its store layouts to restore in-shop seating and facilitate the return of free, self-serve condiment stations.
My take
So far, Niccol has been chipping away at issues which, together, make up a significant part of what customers and employees alike had reported to him during his low-key research last fall. But he’s still keeping under his hat what, specifically, he’s planning on doing about menu price reductions.
Soaring beverage prices were the major focus of customer complaints which led to fan defections from the brand and, in turn, the disastrous sales drops that precipitated Niccol’s appointment to turn the brand around…
~ Maggie J.