Schultz reiterated Starbucks commitment to hire 10,000 veterans and military spouses by the end of 2018 and to open five community stores that will make a contribution for every transaction to non-profit organizations that support veterans entering the civilian workforce and spouses of active-duty military personnel.
He also announced that the company is making good on its commitment by hiring hundreds of veterans already, investing in the company’s recruitment and retention programs for veterans and military spouses, and by opening two community stores serving military communities in Lakewood, Washington and San Antonio, Texas.
Record Starbucks Card and Loyalty Growth, New Mobile App
Starbucks chief digital officer Adam Brotman announced the release of an updated Starbucks mobile app for iPhone, which will extend the company’s leadership in mobile payment and allow customers to recognize Starbucks partners with a tip directly from the Starbucks app for iPhone starting today in the U.S.
Mobile payment now represents 14 percent of all in-store transactions in the U.S. More than 25 percent of all transactions are made by My Starbucks Rewards loyalty members.
Brotman also emphasized record Starbucks Card growth with an estimated 1 in 8 American adults receiving a Starbucks Card this past holiday season, which translated to 1.5 million new customers registering their Starbucks Card and joining the My Starbucks Rewards loyalty program for the first time.
Starbucks now has more than 8 million My Starbucks Rewards members in the North America alone. Globally, Starbucks Cards are available in more than 28 countries, and more than $18 billion has been loaded onto Starbucks Cards since the start of the program in 2001.
Brand Continues to Resonate Around the Globe
Avani Davda, ceo, Tata Starbucks Limited for India, and Belinda Wong, president, Starbucks China, shared how their respective markets continue to represent significant long-term growth potential for the company. Wong shared that China today has more than 1,100 stores, across 68 cities and nearly 20,000 partners.
Continuing on pace to reach 1,500 stores in 2015, the team is focused on elevating the Starbucks Experience through unique, market-level innovation, while building the brand holistically.
Davda highlighted that India today has 40 stores in 4 cities, with nearly 1,000 partners. The fastest growing market in Starbucks history, the team is focused on delivering a Starbucks Experience that resonates with India customers and engages partners.
Building a different kind of company, both are focused on developing future leaders for their markets through training and education investments for partners and defining unique, locally relevant ways to invest in their coffee growing communities of Yunnan, China and Coorg, South India.
Celebrating Coffee at Our Core, Hacienda Alsacia and the Evolution of Starbucks Reserve Coffees
Last year, Starbucks announced the acquisition of Hacienda Alsacia, a 240-hectare coffee farm in Costa Rica that is now acting as a global agronomy and research center.
The work on this farm is expanding the company’s comprehensive approach to ethical sourcing as part of its commitment and investment in supporting long-term, sustainable approaches to farming that will benefit the broader specialty coffee industry.
Schultz recounted his experience visiting the farm during its first harvest earlier this year. The working farm is actively refining Starbucks Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E.) Practices model and responsible growing practices, housing a nursery of more than 160,000 hybrid seedlings.
Its research represents an extension of Starbucks more than ten year history of agronomy in collaboration with leading industry organizations to help farmers improve productivity and coffee quality around the world. All of this insight is supporting the diverse, complex ecosystem of farmers, helping to support their livelihoods and to produce high-quality arabica coffee for the specialty market.
Schultz celebrated this rich diversity by recognizing the Starbucks Reserve program, which makes some of Starbucks rarest small batch coffee available to customers by the half-pound or cup with the company’s patented Clover brewing system.
In the coming year, Schultz announced the company will further evolve the Starbucks Reserve program with new packaging and offerings, bringing the purest expression of an exquisite cup of coffee to customers around the world.
Doing for Tea What Starbucks Did for Coffee by Reinventing the $90 Billion Global Tea Category
Schultz called the $90 billion global tea category “ripe for innovation” and showcased the company’s ambition to do with tea what it has done with coffee.
