Starbucks’ new CEO outlines fix it plans for the coffee chain

USA – American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves, Starbucks, plans fewer new locations and renovations in fiscal 2025 to free up capital as part of new turnaround strategy.

For three straight quarters, Starbucks has reported declining sales and the new CEO, Brian Niccol is banking on some easy tweaks to its U.S. business to pay off and help reverse the trend as the coffeehouse plots a more ambitious and comprehensive game plan.

During the recent company’s quarterly conference call, Niccol also hinted a new change to how customers will be served their drinks of choice.

Starbucks customers have become used to walking into a café and seeing a counter crowded with mobile orders, but this would change.

Niccol said Starbucks is working to improve the accuracy of the app’s timing, so customers know when their drinks are ready.

He intends to even separate mobile order pickups from in-person ordering inside restaurants and curtail how much customers can customize their drinks. Currently, mobile orders account for more than 30% of Starbucks’ U.S. transactions.

“When it works well, it’s great, but sometimes it can be a challenge for both customers and partners,” Niccol told investors.

“Right now, I think there’s some customization specifically in the mobile order app execution that’s just really wide and unnecessary.”

Another fix it plan is to buy about 200,000 Sharpie markers as part of his plan to take the coffee chain back to its roots.

He’s hoping that more personal touches including bringing back markers to write customer names or messages on cups will bring customers back to cafes.

Other changes coming to U.S. cafes include the return of ceramic mugs, condiment bars and cozy furniture.

The coffee chain is also eliminating its controversial olive oil-infused drinks from the menu, less than a year after they made their nationwide debut.

The lineup of “Oleato” drinks were eliminated from Starbucks’ menus in the US and Canada beginning in early November, part of the chain’s broader plans to simplify a menu that Niccol recently called “overly complex.”

The new CEO said the coffee chain needs to focus on “fewer, better” offerings, making it easier for baristas to make every drink consistently.

“There’s always a long tail on the menu, and those items, frankly, we don’t execute all that great,” Niccol said, adding that baristas often take longer to make drinks that are unfamiliar.

Niccol said he’s also aiming to improve staffing at stores and cut service times for every order to under four minutes.

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