Starbucks continues to set the coffee bar. The retailer’s app and made-for-social-media drinks have been category-defining for the foodservice industry. “We remain a growth company,” Chief Financial Officer Patrick Grismer said at the Seattle-based chain’s annual shareholders meeting this year. “We are not a mature business whose best days are behind us.”
The coffee giant is reimagining its “third place” strategy to include any place customers are holding a Starbucks cup.
The retailer could also set the tone for coffee sustainability. Starbucks is testing a recyclable and compostable cup (pictured at left) in New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver and London. Over the next year, the chain plans to roll out recyclable, strawless lids to all stores in the United States and Canada.