Starbucks Q4 2024 TU Earnings Call Transcript

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Provided by Quartr
October 22, 2024

Key Takeaways

  • Recent results show customers are visiting less often after the company strayed from its core identity, necessitating a fundamental strategy change.
  • The new Back to Starbucks plan refocuses on premier coffee expertise and delivering a welcoming coffeehouse experience to drive near-term stabilization and growth.
  • Starbucks will simplify operations and improve staffing by removing bottlenecks, refining mobile ordering, and empowering baristas with better tools to ensure high-quality, handcrafted beverages served quickly.
  • The company pledges to strengthen its “Green Apron” partners with meaningful career paths and industry-leading benefits, including a free four-year college degree for U.S. partners, to enhance service consistency.
  • Marketing and product strategies will be overhauled by simplifying the menu, fixing pricing architecture, broadening brand messaging beyond Rewards members, and applying disciplined innovation globally to reignite growth.
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Earnings Conference Call
Starbucks Q4 2024 TU
00:00 / 00:00

There are 1 speakers on the call.

Operator

I think, as you know, last month, I made a commitment that we would get back to Starbucks. That means focusing on what has always set Starbucks apart, a welcoming coffeehouse where people gather and where we serve the finest coffee handcrafted by our skilled baristas. It's our enduring identity, and it's why millions of customers around the world visit Starbucks every single day. People love Starbucks, but I've heard from some customers that we've drifted from our core, that we've made it harder to be a customer than it should be, and that we've stopped communicating with them. As a result, some are visiting less often, and I think today's results tell that same story.

Operator

To welcome all our customers back and return to growth, we need to fundamentally change our recent strategy. Back to Starbucks is that fundamental change. I believe that our problems are very fixable and that we have significant strengths to build on. I've spent my career understanding, stewarding and building brands, and it's clear the Starbucks brand is strong and enduring. When we stay true to our core identity and focus on delivering a great partner and customer experience, our customers come, and importantly, they come back.

Operator

Since taking this role, I've been digging in to understand our business. I've spent most of my time in stores talking with our partners and customers. I've also met with support center teams. I already have some learnings, and we're applying those learnings to stabilize the business in the near term and to shape our go forward strategy. We have a clear plan, and we are already taking quick action.

Operator

Regardless of any challenges in the consumer environment, we know we must operate at our best every time we serve our customers. I look forward to sharing more and taking questions on next week's earnings call. But today, I want to share some of what I've seen and where we need to focus. At Starbucks, coffee comes first. No one matches our expertise, our deep engagement with coffee farmers, our skilled roasters, the premium equipment we use in our coffee houses and the skill of our baristas are all unmatched.

Operator

We offer something for everyone fresh brewed coffee from our Clover Vertica, high quality espresso for everything from Americanos to flat whites, innovations in cold coffee with our reformulated iced coffee and the popular iced shake and espresso platform. Through product development, marketing and in store experience, we need to remind everyone that we are and always have been Starbucks Coffee Company. From the very beginning, Starbucks has always been about our Green Apron partners. Everything we do starts and ends with them. We must ensure our baristas have the time and tools they need to provide exceptional customer service and that they are supported by strong leaders and managers across every store.

Operator

Every person at Starbucks must work harder to support our retail teams, moving faster to respond to their feedback and get them what they need. Our Green Apron partners want to provide exceptional service to our customers. And as leaders, we need to remove those things that might stop them from doing that. We will also build on our legacy by making Starbucks the best job in retail, offering our baristas meaningful career growth and industry leading benefits like the opportunity for U. S.

Operator

Partners to earn a free 4 year college degree. We need to offer a great experience to our customers every single time, especially during the morning peak. We are reorienting all our work to ensure we deliver a high quality handcrafted beverage prepared quickly and with care and handed directly to the customer by our barista. This is the moment of truth. This commitment will drive every decision we make.

Operator

To succeed, we need to address staffing in our stores, remove bottlenecks and simplify things for our baristas. We need to refine mobile order and pay, so it doesn't overwhelm the cafe experience. We know how to make these improvements, and when we do, we know customers will visit more often. We must reestablish ourselves as the community coffee house. Starbucks has always been a place where people come together.

Operator

We are revisiting our stores to make sure we're offering the amenities you'd expect in a community coffee house. Even if customers don't want to stay in the cafe each time they visit, we know they expect our stores to look and feel like the community coffee house they remember. We have to reintroduce Starbucks to the world. We're fundamentally changing our marketing. We've been focusing on Starbucks Rewards customers rather than talking to all our customers, and we're changing that quickly, as you likely have already seen.

Operator

We're prioritizing our brand, highlighting the handcrafted products customers expect, and showcasing the coffee innovation that sets Starbucks apart. We will simplify our overly complex menu, fix our pricing architecture, and ensure that every customer feels Starbucks is worth it every single time they visit. As we do all this, we're committed to innovating with discipline and prioritizing investments that will improve the experience for both our partners and customers. As I said last month, my near term focus is the U. S.

Operator

It's our biggest business, and we need to return it to growth. But we also have significant opportunities around the world. Our team is focused on how we return Starbucks China to growth and getting all our international businesses performing again. Throughout my career, I've learned and applied some powerful lessons. If you stay true to your core identity, take care of customers and your team, simplify the business, deliver consistently high quality products and experiences, and tell your story effectively, you will be successful.

Operator

So we have a lot of work ahead of us, but I am confident we can get all these things right at Starbucks. I'm convinced that if we get back to Starbucks with a focus on coffee and customers, combined with a welcoming coffee house experience created by our Green Apron partners, we will remind people of why they love Starbucks. They will visit more often, and we will return this company to strong growth. Getting back to Starbucks is our plan, and we'll share our progress as we go. Thank you for listening, and I look forward to sharing the progress with you in the future.

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