Starbucks plans to start testing Cold Pressed Espresso in some cafes before the end of the year as consumers increasingly stick to cold drinks for their caffeine jolt.
The drink was already available in upscale Starbucks Reserve locations. Cold drinks, which are favorable to younger consumers, have played an important role in growing in-store sales in recent years. In the last three years, consumers have spent more than $ 1 billion on Starbucks cold drinks.
“Over 50% of the drinks we sell at Starbucks are cold,” CEO Kevin Johnson told CNBC’s Kate Rogers in an interview with Halftime Report on Wednesday.
Johnson pointed out that, after the pandemic, consumers will be looking for more social interactions, which will bring them back to Starbucks cafes to buy their cold drinks. But they still seem to use drive-thru sets or mobile ordering to pick up the coffee.
The company is also preparing to open one of its first sustainable roasting plants in China next year. With $ 150 million earmarked for it, the project is the company’s largest investment outside the United States and the first in Asia.
“This is one of the things we are doing to not only reduce our carbon footprint, ultimately to get to zero net, but ultimately to store more carbon than we need. “That is our long – term agenda, and we are committed to that.”
Shares of Starbucks have risen 86% over the past year, giving it a market value of $ 129 billion. While the pandemic has been selling the company, its reversal in the U.S. and China is happening faster than expected. Next quarter, Starbucks predicts U.S. one-store sales growth of 5% to 10%, and Chinese sales of the same store are expected to almost double.