Hospitality, Finance, Customer Success, and Business Development Professional | 17+ Years of Management Experience | MBA
The cringe memes your dad keeps sending about 98-step coffee orders are kinda right. Starbucks has 383 billion unique latte combinations and is investing in changes to help baristas make all of them a lot faster, according to Bloomberg. Why the need for speed? The coffee chain is struggling to keep customer wait times down. Most customers are continuing a pandemic trend and swarming the Sbux app to order their morning bev, making it easier to add extra pumps of…everything. And Starbucks can’t just do away with the customizations that are slowing things down: Extra charges bring in over $1 billion in revenue every year, according to the president of Starbucks North America. So, Starbucks is spending billions to shave seconds off your wait time: The chain introduced smaller ice cubes for easier scoopability and is rolling out portable cold foamers so baristas don’t have to clog up prep space at the big blenders. It also filed a patent earlier this year for a machine that could automate drink-making. The company claims the changes will make baristas’ jobs easier, but some workers aren’t so sure. Understaffing is still one of the main issues driving the unionization effort among Starbucks locations—not a lack of souped-up Keurigs. Big picture: Other chains are also vying for speedier order handling to accommodate larger menus and more sales volume. Popeyes is overhauling its kitchens for the first time in a decade to make faster chicken sandwiches.—MM https://lnkd.in/eumhwVq2 #efficiency #workplaceexcellence #workplaceefficiency