How Starbucks is Elevating Coffee Stories Through Partner (Employee) Content Creators

Relevance and being in culture matter now more than ever. As we continue to get Back to Starbucks and ignite the soul of Starbucks, we are engaging with our passionate customer and partner base and celebrating and showcasing their creativity in innovative ways on social media.   

Our approach is all about honoring the fandom, fueling the excitement, and making every touch point of the brand – whether in the coffeehouse or on our social channels – feel fresh, personal, and full of possibility.  

Global Coffee Creators  

The care and craft behind every cup of Starbucks coffee—from bean to cup—is an amazing story. And, when you get to meet coffee farmers and partners around the world, you really get to see the passion behind our coffee.  

That’s why we launched the Global Coffee Creator Program; we wanted to invite creators and partners to share these stories in their voice.   

Today, we unveiled our first Global Coffee Creators, Juliana and Starbucks barista, Josiah.  Check out their first pieces of content as Global Coffee Creators here and here.   

They’ll travel the world, capturing their journey to iconic Starbucks locations and highlight the care that goes into every cup of coffee as well as the diverse Starbucks experiences in communities around the world, all through a social lens.    

It’s a great example of how we are connecting with the socially driven next gen audiences and promoting our expertise and leadership in coffee.  This program is about more than just content creation; it’s about the importance and evolution of the role creators play in brand storytelling.  

Green Apron Creators  

At the heart of the Starbucks Experience is our partners (baristas), and we are elevating partner voices through the program Green Apron Creators, which we have been piloting for the last year.    

We have found an incredible group of baristas who are creating authentic social content about working at Starbucks, in their voice, for our social channels.  I love seeing their creativity and passion show up through engaging content.  

In addition to great content, it’s also a relevant development opportunity that resonates with Gen Z, which make up a majority of our baristas.  This helps drive sales and connection as the program enables us to extend the coffeehouse experience beyond the walls of our cafes.   

We’re excited about the feedback so far and are continuing to gather learnings from the pilot to inform the future of the program.