Additional Coverage:
- Starbucks is slashing 30% of its offerings because CEO Brian Niccol says its menu has become ‘overly complex’ (newsbreak.com)
Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol is planning a major menu overhaul. He announced that roughly 30% of the coffee chain’s current food and beverage offerings will be gone by September. This is part of his “Back to Starbucks” initiative aimed at streamlining operations and improving the customer experience.
Niccol hinted at these changes last October, suggesting that overly complicated drinks and food items were likely to be cut. He believes a simplified menu will allow for more effective innovation and give baristas more time to interact with customers.
While Niccol hasn’t revealed exactly which items are being removed, he’s open to the idea of offering different menus for different times of day. He also mentioned that new digital menus, rolling out over the next year and a half, could facilitate menu adjustments and showcase customizations more clearly.
The “Back to Starbucks” plan also includes the return of self-serve condiment bars and a renewed emphasis on personalized service, like handwritten messages on cups. These changes aim to recapture the brand’s classic coffeehouse atmosphere.
Despite a recent dip in same-store sales in North America, Niccol cited increased traffic from non-rewards members and the return of some lapsed rewards members following the elimination of extra charges for non-dairy milk as signs of early progress. He expressed confidence that these efforts will ultimately drive future growth for the company.