Starbucks Business Model

POSTED ON JULY 30, 2021  BY DANIEL PEREIRA

Called by many “the MacDonald’s of coffee”, Starbucks is probably the

most famous coffee chain in the world, with more than 21,500 stores in 64
countries. And, as Starbucks itself states, the company is not “passionate” only
about coffee, but everything that goes with it:

We also offer a selection of premium teas, fine pastries, and other delectable
treats to please the taste buds. And the music you hear in store is chosen for
its artistry and appeal. It’s not unusual to see people coming to Starbucks to
chat, meet up or even work. We’re a neighborhood gathering place, a part of
the daily routine – and we couldn’t be happier about it.

Let’s get to know a little more about Starbucks’ business model.

Contents
 A brief history of Starbucks
 Starbucks Mission & Values
o Starbucks Mission Statement
o Starbucks Values
 How Starbucks makes money
o Starbucks revenue streams by operating segments
o Starbucks revenue by product types
 Starbucks business model canvas
o Starbucks customer segments
 o Starbucks value proposition
o Starbucks channels
o Starbucks customer relationships
o Starbucks revenue streams
o Starbucks key partners
o Starbucks key activities
o Starbucks key resources
o Starbucks cost structure
 Starbucks competitors
 Starbucks SWOT analysis
o Starbucks Strengths
o Starbucks Weaknesses
o Starbucks Opportunities
o Starbucks Threats

A brief history of Starbucks

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/may/14/the-first-starbucks-coffee-
shop-seattle-a-history-of-cities-in-50-buildings-day-36
The Starbucks story begins with three students at the University of San
Francisco, back in the early 1970s: the English teacher Jerry Baldwin, the
history teacher Zev Siegl, and the writer Gordon Bowker.

The three of them had met Alfred Peet, a coffee roasting entrepreneur, who
taught them his style of roasting beans. After that, they decided to sell
high-quality coffee beans and equipment.
Before the foundation, Bowker owned an advertising agency with Terry
Heckler, who said that words beginning with “st” were powerful. So, the
founders looked up a list of words beginning with “st,” and discovered a
mining town called “Starbo”. From there, they recalled the name of the
chief mate in Moby-Dick’s book: “Starbuck”.

And that was how the first Starbucks was born, on March 31, 1971, in
Seattle, Washington. Following the initial idea, this first shop would only sell
roasted whole coffee beans until 1976.

Five years later, Howard Schultz (chairman and chief executive officer of

Starbucks from 1986 to 2000, and then again from 2008 to 2017) walked
into a Starbucks store. He would join the company as director of retail
operations and marketing the following year when Starbucks began
providing coffee to fine restaurants and espresso bars.

In 1983, Schultz travels to Italy, and gets impressed with the espresso bars
in Milan, and sees potential to develop a similar coffeehouse culture back in
Seattle. So, in 1985, Schultz founds Il Giornale, a coffeehouse that offered
brewed coffee and espresso beverages made from Starbucks® coffee
beans.

Two years later, the original founders sold Starbucks to Schultz. He

rebranded his Il Giornale cafés as Starbucks and began expanding the
company. By the year 1989, there were 55 Starbucks stores in the USA.

Starbucks completed its initial public offering (IPO) on the stock market in
mid-1992, with revenue of $ 73.5 mi and a market’s value of $ 271 mi. Four
years after that, its first store outside North America was opened in Tokyo.

And, finally, nowadays, Starbucks is one of the 500 largest United States
corporations by revenue, according to Fortune, with a market value of over
$ 100 bi and 32,660 stores all over the world.

Starbucks Mission & Values

Starbucks Mission Statement
To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one
neighborhood at a time.

Starbucks Values

 Creating a culture of warmth and belonging, where everyone is welcome.

 Acting with courage, challenging the status quo, and finding new ways to
grow our company and each other.
 Being present, connecting with transparency, dignity, and respect.
 Delivering our very best in all we do, holding ourselves accountable for
results.

How Starbucks makes money

Simply speaking, Starbucks makes money by selling coffee, tea, food, and
other ready-to-drink beverages in its company-operated or licensed stores.
Other revenues also come from royalty and licensing incoming, consumer-
packed goods, food service, etc., since Starbucks products can be found in
grocery stores, convenience chains, and other beverage selling places.

Although almost half of the stores are franchised, Starbucks still makes
most of its money from its company-operated stores: the segment makes
81.5% of total revenue (22.4 bi), which is nearly ten times its licensed stores’
revenue. However, it is fair to highlight that licensed stores have shown the
highest revenue growth.

Starbucks revenue streams by operating segments

Americas (USA, Canada, and Latin America): This segment includes both

company-operated and licensed stores. It’s the biggest and most mature
business segment.

CAP & EMEA: CAP stands for China & Asia Pacific, while EMEA stands for
Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Bothe the segments include company-
operated and licensed stores, but these operations are in several levels of
development.

Channel Development: This segment includes roasted whole beans and

ground coffee, Starbucks and Teavana single-serve products, ready-to-
drink beverages, and other products sold outside the company-operated
and licensed stores.

Starbucks revenue by product types

  Beverages: The majority of Starbucks revenue comes from the sale of
beverages (around 60%), especially coffee ones.
 Food: Food is the second-highest revenue source, standing for 18% of the
total generated.
 Packaged and single-serve coffees & teas: revenues generated from
these products are the lowest, representing 8% of the total.
 Others: 14% of the total revenue comes from royalty & licensing, selling
beverage-related ingredients, server ware, and ready-to-drink beverages.

Starbucks business model canvas

 DOWNLOAD HIGH-RESOLUTION PDF OF THE STARBUCKS BUSINESS
MODEL CANVAS
 

Starbucks customer segments

There is no customer segmentation in Starbucks’ business model. Anyone
who wants high-quality coffee is part of Starbucks’ customer segments. In
other words, the mass market.

Starbucks value proposition

 Innovation: Starbucks constantly designs innovative products for its

customers.
 Quality: it uses only high-quality beans and trained roasters to work on
them.
 Convenience: customers can order products through Starbucks’ app,
avoiding lines at the stores.
 Variety: it offers 30 blends of coffee and a wide range of sandwiches,
pastries, tea, smoothies, salads, etc.
 Brand: Starbucks has a powerful and awarded brand, seen as a synonym of
quality.

Starbucks channels
Coffee shops, grocery stores, retailers, Starbuck card, customer service,
Starbucks app, and social media.

Starbucks customer relationships

Employees make and serve products to the customers, and also assist them
anyhow. This ensures a loyal customer base for the brand.

Starbucks revenue streams

Beverage (especially coffee) and food selling in both company-operated or
licensed stores, royalties, and licenses, packed goods, etc.

Starbucks key partners

Suppliers worldwide, coffee producers, outside trading companies,
exporters, retailers, and distributors.

Starbucks key activities

Product development, customer service, marketing, production, R&D,
cleaning, and others.

Starbucks key resources

Human resources, high-quality coffee farmer centers, product developers,
and stores.

Starbucks cost structure

Administration and operation costs, marketing, distribution, facilities

Starbucks competitors
 Dunkin Donuts: donuts and coffee house, founded in 1950, with over
11,500 restaurants in more than 35 countries.
 Costa Coffee: British coffeehouse, founded in 1970 and acquired by Coca-
Cola in 2019.
 McCafé: a subsidiary of McDonald’s, founded in 1993.
 Tim Horton’s: one of the largest Canadian-based fast-food multinationals,
with popular coffee and donuts, with over 4,600 restaurants in 13 countries.
 Peet’s Coffee: a retail company specialized in coffee roasting, founded in
1966.
  Lavazza: brand of coffee in Italy, founded in 1895, with stores in several
European countries.
 Yum China: the largest restaurant operator in China, and the sole Chinese
licensee of KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell.
 Café Coffee Day: India’s largest coffee chain, founded in 1996, with
markets in Africa, Europe, and Asia.
 Independent coffeehouses: all the millions of small neighborhood coffee
shops in the world.

Starbucks SWOT analysis

Starbucks Strengths

 Brand: the most popular brand in the food and beverage industry.
 Financial performance: annual revenue over $26 bi.
 Growth: each year, new stores are open somewhere on the planet (32,660
currently).
 Supply chain: extensive global supplying network, with coffee beans from
Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
 Quality and standardization: premium blends and coffees consistently
standardized in all its locations.
 Strategic planning: Starbucks reinvests its profits in business
development.
  Employee treatment: Starbucks is often listed as one of the best places to
work for.
 Gender-neutral restrooms: to protect the LGBTQ+ community against
discrimination.

Starbucks Weaknesses

 Prices: for many consumers, Starbucks is more costly than some

competitors, such as McDonald’s.
 Imitability: it is quite easy for the competitors to replicate its products.
 General standardization: some products don’t associate with the locals’
preferences.
 Recall of products: it has recalled several in-demand products, affecting
the brand image.

Starbucks Opportunities

 Expansion: most of its coffeehouses are in the U.S. Emerging economies

are a great opportunity for expansion.
 Diversification: developing products according to the specific target
market’s preferences.
 Partnerships: co-branding could increase its market share.
 Price differentiation: offering regular coffee to capture the middle-class.
 Online channels: strengthening its online channels to attract more
customers for pickup locations.
 Delivery: it can start its own delivery service, instead of using Uber Eats
and alike.
 Subscription: it could start some coffee subscription services to expand its
customer base.

Starbucks Threats

 Competition: many coffeehouses offer cheaper products. Besides, there

are strong competitors such as multinational companies (Dunkin Donuts
and McDonald’s for example).
 Imitation: their products can be easily reproduced.
 Third-party suppliers: there are many contractors and stakeholders, which
makes it hard to manage the whole chain.
 Recession: Starbucks’ revenue has already dropped, especially after
temporarily closing many stores due to the pandemic.
 Coffee beans rising prices: the price of Arabica (the most-produced coffee
in the world) has raised drastically during the pandemic.