coffee

Dutch Bros sales and profits took off last quarter

By Jonathan Maze on May 07, 2024

Same-store sales increased 10% in the company’s first quarter as boba, protein coffee and more awareness drove traffic to its shops.

Premium

Financing

Why social media, and not price, is behind Starbucks' sales problems

By Jonathan Maze on May 07, 2024

The Bottom Line: The coffee shop chain lost momentum quickly in November. That was too fast to be explained by consumer reaction over the prices of its beverages.

Financing

Howard Schultz has some thoughts on Starbucks' big earnings miss

By Jonathan Maze on May 06, 2024

The former CEO of the coffee shop giant, who handpicked the current chief executive, said the company’s problems “begin at home.” And he urged the chain to overhaul its mobile ordering platform.

Premium

Financing

For Starbucks, 2 years of change hasn't yielded promised results

By Jonathan Maze on May 01, 2024

The Bottom Line: The coffee shop giant’s sales struggles worsened earlier this year, despite a flurry of efforts to improve operations and employee satisfaction.

Financing

Starbucks sales and traffic took a big hit last quarter

By Jonathan Maze on Apr. 30, 2024

The Seattle-based coffee shop giant said that its performance in its second quarter “did not meet our expectations” amid a “highly challenged environment.” The news sent its stock plunging.

Beverage

Starbucks' new cold cups will use a lot less plastic

By Jonathan Maze on Apr. 18, 2024

The Seattle-based coffee shop chain, which now gets most of its beverage sales from cold coffee, is introducing new, more sustainable cups that cut plastic by up to 20%.

Marketing

Inside 7 Brew's no-frills loyalty program, where nearly every guest is a member

By Joe Guszkowski on Apr. 14, 2024

Thanks to a sign-up process that is baked into its operations, 92% of transactions at the fast-growing drive-thru coffee chain come from known guests.

Marketing

So much for Starbucks' journey into the metaverse

By Jonathan Maze on Mar. 18, 2024

The coffee shop chain told customers late last week that it would end its Starbucks Odyssey NFT virtual restaurant loyalty program experiment "to prepare for what comes next."

Leadership