Starbucks Corporation
Starbucks aims to triple workforce in China
Starbucks Corp plans to triple its workforce on the Chinese mainland, set to be its largest market after the US by 2014, in the next three years.
The world's biggest coffee chain, based in Seattle in the US, said it will boost its over 10,000 mainland employees now to over 30,000 by 2015. The company now operates over 570 cafes in 48 mainland cities and will expand to over 1,500 locations in more than 70 cities by 2015.
Starbucks opens 1st juice bar in biggest move outside coffee
Starbucks Corp opened the first store in its new Evolution Fresh juice bar chain on Monday, its biggest move outside coffee and one it hopes will boost the company's position in the USD50 billion health food sector.
The juice bar business is, however, fragmented and intensely competitive and some analysts say the Evolution Fresh shops could have lower margins than Starbucks' coffee shops.
Starbucks 1Q profit up 10pc; to open 800 stores in the coming year
Starbucks Corp. reported its biggest quarterly revenue gain since the recession began, but investors worried after the company issued a modest forecast for the year.
The Seattle-based coffee company reported on Thursday after the stock markets closed that fiscal first-quarter revenue grew 16 percent – the largest quarterly gain since 2007. It attracted new customers by adding stores in China and Morocco, upgrading locations in the US and rolling out single-serve coffee and other new items at grocery stores.
Starbucks to sell beer, wine in some US cafes
Starbucks Corp., which sells the coffee that helps many Americans get wound up for their day, is now offering some a way to wind down. The company plans to begin selling beer and wine in a small number of cafes in Atlanta and Southern California by the end of this year as it explores an expansion beyond morning coffee and afternoon pick-me-ups. Starbucks is planning to add the alcoholic drinks and food such as savoury snacks, cheese plates and hot flatbreads to menus in four to six outlets in each market.
Latest Starbucks concoction: juice
Starbucks Corp., known for its ubiquitous cafes, is looking to a new source for growth: juice bars.
The coffee chain is buying a small, upscale juice maker Evolution Fresh Inc. for USD30 million – a deal that pushes Starbucks well beyond its coffee roots and shows how serious the company is about transforming itself into a consumer products player with a large presence outside its own stores.
Tata Coffee, Starbucks near deal for India stores
India's Tata Coffee Ltd. could this month unveil an alliance with Starbucks Corp., marking the popular US coffee retail chain's foray into Asia's third-largest economy, a person familiar with the matter said on Monday.
Starbucks had signed an initial agreement with Tata Coffee in January to source and roast premium coffee beans in India. At that time, the two companies said they will also jointly explore the opening of Starbucks retail stores in the country.
Starbucks plans to add 1,030 coffee shops in China by 2015
Starbucks Corp., the world's largest coffee retailer, plans to triple its coffee shops in China during the next four years and step up expansion elsewhere in Asia, an executive said on Tuesday.
Starbucks plans to operate 1,500 outlets in China by 2015 from a current 470, the company's Asia-Pacific president Jinlong Wang said. The company also expects to open 700 coffee shops in South Korea by 2016, up from 370 now, Wang said.
Starbucks expands mobile payment format
Starbucks Corp. is launching an application on Wednesday that lets customers with Android smartphones buy things with a wave of their phones.
Customers can pay by holding their mobile device in front of a scanner that registers the on-screen barcode. The application also allows customers to load their Starbucks loyalty card accounts, check card balances and find stores nearby, and it notifies customers of promotions and other discounts.
Starbucks package prices to jump
Starbucks Corp. is raising prices on bagged coffee sold at its US cafes by an average of 17 percent in response to escalating coffee costs.
The in-store increase goes into effect on 12 July and comes after Starbucks in March imposed a 12 percent increase on bagged coffee sold at supermarkets. Starbucks said the price increase is the first taken on packaged coffee sold at cafes in two years.
Starbucks CEO promises huge grocery growth
Starbucks Corp wants to make sales of its coffee and other products in the grocery aisle rival its traditional cafe business, according to CEO Howard Schultz.
The world's biggest coffee chain is betting it can use the power of its brand to sell a portfolio of goods – such as Via instant coffee and bottled Frappuccino – everywhere food and beverages are sold, whether in a supermarket in the United States or a vending machine in Asia.
