One of the highlights to a work day is a quick trip to your local coffee shop.
Whether it’s to brainstorm about an upcoming project, catch up with friends or coworkers, or just duck out for a caffeinated pick-me-up, these 15 minutes are considered non-negotiable trips to bliss for so many workers.
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In fact, business is booming at many coffee shops.
Starbucks (SBUX) is one such cafe.
Though it’s been struggling with declining sales, the cafe’s stock is up over 30% year-over-year and over 28% over the past five years.
This is partly because a pent up demand left by Covid has made many of us rabid coffee fans.
When the world reopened, customers were eager to get out of the house. And few trips are easier to make than a routine stop at your nearby Starbucks.
And knowing Starbucks, your closest cafe likely isn’t far at all.
That’s because Starbucks’ business model is to establish a lot of locations clustered near high foot traffic areas.
Even if that means locating several cafes right near each other.
The idea is that coffee shops don’t often breed loyalty, and those looking for a cup of coffee aren’t particularly picky. They go where it’s closest, reliable, and convenient.
So putting Starbucks on almost every corner is a pretty surefire way to ensure you’re scooping up as much consumer demand as possible.
Starbucks is considering removing a seed oil from its menu.
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Starbucks makes big changes
As the largest coffee chain in the U.S., Starbucks has a lot of logistics to handle.
But that’s been one of the chief complaints against the cafe in recent years.
You’re probably not the only one who’s had to wait in line for what seems like an eternity just to place an order at Starbucks, and then even more time to actually get your drink in hand.
Long wait times have plagued the cafe with subpar customer experience, particularly as demand balloons.
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That’s something Starbucks is well aware of, though. And it’s working hard to fix it.
It’s currently working on implementing the Siren System, a pricey investment that will be installed at cafes that struggle to keep up with high order volume.
The system is designed to reduce the number of steps it takes for a barista to complete a drink.
This will be especially handy if a drink is complicated or customized, which is something Starbucks prides itself in allowing customers to do endlessly.
Starbucks considers a menu change
And now, Starbucks is weighing making another change from within.
The cafe, which boasts over 17,000 locations in the U.S. alone, is reportedly considering eliminating canola oil from its menu.
Canola oil is a vegetable oil derived from the rapeseed plant. It is considered inflammatory due in part to its processing, and contains an outsized amount of omega six fatty acids.
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Canola oil has begun to fall out of favor with an increasingly health-conscious customer base.
So Starbucks is planning to do away with the seed oil, Bloomberg News reports.
It would see popular items like the egg white and roasted red pepper bites changed. Starbucks could instead replace the old canola oil recipe with avocado oil, which is considered less inflammatory.
Newly minted Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol met with HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. in June. Kennedy has been outspoken about the rampant use of seed oils in processed foods, including canola, safflower, sunflower, and soybean oils.