Message from Starbucks ceo: A Revitalized Mission for Our Limitless Future
With every cup, with every conversation, with every community – we nurture the limitless possibilities of human connection.
Dear partners,
Over the last seven months, I have had the privilege to connect with and learn from so many of you around the world in our stores, distribution centers, roasting plants, support centers and on our own coffee farm in Costa Rica. Sharing our stories and aspirations for Starbucks has ignited a conversation about our limitless possibilities.
The executive leadership team has come together to refound our company. This has involved an exploration into the opportunities we have in front of us to evolve and modernize the business, brand and culture of Starbucks to meet the needs of today and, importantly, our future.
Over this period of immersion with you, and in my early days as ceo, there are three observations that guide me.
- Starbucks is in the business of human connection … and the world needs us more than ever. Humanity is facing a crisis of loneliness, division and polarization. Through societal shifts and an evolving world around us, what remains unchanged is the universal, enduring need for human connection. Our ability to deliver human connection – both connecting with ourselves, as well as connecting with others – over the ritual of coffee differentiates us and points to vast opportunity for us to grow across the world. There are so many that we still do not yet reach.
- Our performance is strong … but our health needs to be stronger. From my immersions in over 30 stores, I have experienced firsthand how we are still evolving to meet the demands of our customers. Our stores are “theaters in the front” – for baristas to showcase their craft and connect with customers. To help our partners deliver smoother and more consistent execution, we need to significantly strengthen the “factories in the back” – truly refocus on how we come together across the entire company to simplify the work of our partners, support the health of our stores and deliver a superior Starbucks Experience.
- We will always strive to be a different kind of company, but we must recognize that we now operate in a different kind of world. The last time we refreshed our mission was in 2008, over 15 years ago. At that time we rightfully recognized that putting our partners and customers first would deliver outsized returns for our shareholders. Today, there is greater interconnectedness of what we do and how we do it. There are more stakeholders whose needs we must also address. We must bring a new level of rigor for how we also impact the communities we serve, the farmers we rely on, and the earth that nourishes us –creating mutual success for all.
To reflect this evolution of the times we’re living in while paying homage to our heritage, I’m proud today to reveal a revitalized Starbucks mission. This has been created in close collaboration with the executive leadership team and inspired by our conversations with partners from around the world. We’ve refined it based on the input and are pleased to share with you where we’ve ended up. Our new mission is this:
With every cup, with every conversation, with every community – we nurture the limitless possibilities of human connection.
We’ll use our new mission as an infusion of new energy, ambition and clarity about our shared “why.” Breaking the mission down, with every cup of coffee we craft at Starbucks there is a story to tell – from our farmers to our customers. Every barista has agency in each cup of a personalized beverage they create.. Our cups are emblematic of who we are, what we do and the craft we find aspirational – craft in everything that we do, from making coffee to reconciling accounts. Additionally, meaningful conversation happens at Starbucks – whether in our physical stores or digitally or through our communities. Finally, the impact of what we do has gone beyond the neighborhood in which the store sits. Today, we are impacting communities all over the world –as best typified by our environmental, social, and governance efforts. Through our sense of community, Starbucks offers space to belong.
In pursuit of this mission, our promise to you is the mutual success we commit to, together. As we operate in the different kind of world, we need to balance the needs of multiple parties of interest – stakeholders is a word often used to describe these people. We set bold ambitions of what we would achieve when we are at our best. And feedback from our partners told us that we should express that promise in a digestible clear way.
Our promises frame what we can aim to achieve when we’re at our best. Our promise therefore is:
- At our best, we bridge to a better future (our partner promise)
- At our best, we uplift the everyday (our customer promise)
- At our best, we ensure the future of coffee for all (our farmer promise)
- At our best, we contribute positively (our community promise)
- At our best, we give more than we take (our environmental promise)
- And finally, for our shareholders, we generate long-term returns (our shareholder promise)
Starbucks global presence and local relevance allows us to nurture human connection with billions of people around the world. It is clearer than ever to see why we exist. With every cup, with every conversation, with every community – we nurture the limitless possibilities of human connection.
This is our mission. And we realize what it can do, by living it, and pushing each other to be the best we can be. This is just the start of a conversation, and we’ll have many more opportunities in the coming weeks and months to dive deeper as individuals and as teams around the world. I am honored to be on this journey with you.
Kindly,
Laks