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Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol Fortune
- Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol said 30% of the company’s food and beverage items would be eliminated by September as part of its “Back to Starbucks” plan.
Starbucks’ CEO is shaking up the coffee chain’s notably intricate menu, pledging to eliminate about a third of its food and beverage items and cutting back on the highly customized drinks it’s known for.
As part of his “Back to Starbucks” plan, the chain’s CEO, Brian Niccol, most recently CEO of Chipotle, said on the company’s first-quarter earnings call Tuesday that several menu items would disappear by the end of its fiscal year in September.
Niccol did not specify which menu items would be eliminated, yet on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call in October 2024, he said some “overly complex” items could be on the chopping block.
“We have to clear the noise out both in food and beverage menus, and that opens the door for better innovation that will hopefully resonate even more so for our customers and give our baristas the opportunity to demonstrate their craft and the time to connect with our customers,” Niccol said in a statement to Fortune.
Asked by analysts Tuesday about the possibility of offering different menu items in the morning and evening, Niccol didn’t rule out the possibility. He added that a new push to add digital menus in company-owned stores over the next 18 months could help Starbucks change up the menu as well as more clearly show customizations and add-ons.
“Innovation is going to be a key piece of the puzzle to keep the brand relevant, to keep the menu relevant,” Niccol said on Tuesday’s first-quarter earnings call.
On Tuesday, the coffee chain reported “early progress” on the Back to Starbucks plan. Although same-store sales fell 4% in North America and the U.S., Niccol said non-Starbucks-rewards-member traffic grew quarter over quarter and the price parity for nondairy milk apparently brought back lapsed rewards members.
Along with the menu changes, Niccol reintroduced the condiment bar for milk and sugar, which disappeared during the pandemic, and added ceramic mugs and custom handwritten messages on to-go coffee cups in an effort to revitalize the brand’s community coffeehouse vibe.
“We have a lot of work to do to get Back to Starbucks, but I believe, we do this work, we will position the company for tremendous future growth,” Niccol said Tuesday.
