USA | Starbucks has launched its Back to Starbucks programme to ignite new acceleration and transformation in the company.
Starbucks has hosted over 14,000 coffeehouse leaders from across North America at Leadership Experience 2025 (LE25) in Las Vegas, its largest leadership gathering ever and the first under chairman and ceo Brian Niccol and coo Mike Grams.
“Getting ‘Back to Starbucks’ means refocusing on what has always set us apart, a welcoming coffeehouse where people gather, and where we serve the finest coffee, handcrafted by our skilled baristas,” said Niccol.
“We are bringing together our coffeehouse leaders from across North America to celebrate, empower and equip them to accelerate our transformation. The coffeehouse experience defines the Starbucks brand, and these leaders and their teams bring that experience to life for millions of customers every day.”
LE25 is an important milestone for Starbucks. Over three days, coffeehouse leaders will engage in immersive workshops, connect over new ways of working, hear directly from company leaders, and experience the first-ever Starbucks Global Barista Championship, celebrating craft, connection, and excellence at its best.
The event will accelerate Starbucks' turnaround, centred on exceptional service, simplified routines, and deeper customer connections. Leaders will explore new innovations, clearer customer service standards, and a renewed focus on hospitality, including a goal of four-minute wait times, without compromising the warmth and connection that define the Starbucks Experience.
“This isn’t just a reset—it’s a recommitment to who we are when we are at our best,” said Grams.
“LE25 is our moment to recommit to a culture of hospitality and excellence. We’re making progress, have real momentum with our “Back to Starbucks” plan and are on the right track to turn the business around.”
Since launching its Back to Starbucks strategy nine months ago, customers are already feeling the difference, with welcoming spaces, more confident baristas, faster service, and the return of small but meaningful touches like ceramic mugs, handwritten notes on cups, a more consistent dress code, and a much-loved customer favorite: the condiment bar.
“Our turnaround is rooted in listening to partners and customers and taking action on what we hear,” added Grams. “We’re listening and testing in the coffeehouse, and then applying our learnings to scale quickly and enhance the customer and partner experience.”
Starbucks continues to lead the industry in partner (employee) care, offering industry-leading pay and benefits that average more than USD 30 per hour for baristas. Benefits for eligible partners include 100 percent tuition coverage for a first-time bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University, up to 18 weeks of paid parental leave, equity in the form of stock, and more. As part of its focus on making Starbucks the best job in retail, the company now also has a goal to hire 90 percent of retail leaders from within, fostering a culture of growth and opportunity.
Since launching Back to Starbucks, Starbucks has seen strong early results: shift completion rates are at record highs, turnover is at a record low, less than half the industry average and partner engagement scores continue to rise. In a recent internal survey, 84 percent of U.S. store partners, over 160,000 baristas and coffeehouse leaders, shared their feedback, marking the highest participation rate to date. The results show a strong upward trend in partner engagement, with strong and growing majorities of both coffeehouse leaders and baristas recommending Starbucks as a great place to work.
“We believe a great partner experience fuels the customer experience,” said Grams.
“We always have more work to do, but our partners are rallying behind Back to Starbucks and telling us they like what they see. When our partners feel supported, our customers notice the difference too.”
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