History of Starbucks Timeline

Starbucks launched the Frappuccino, a blended ice coffee drink developed after acquiring the Coffee Connection of Boston. It became one of the company's best-selling products, especially among younger customers.

Image source: Frappuccino

Starbucks began offering Fair Trade certified coffee in partnership with TransFair USA, responding to activist pressure and committing to pay premium prices to smallholder farmers.

Starbucks partnered with Conservation International to launch Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E.) Practices, a set of guidelines promoting ethically sourced, environmentally sustainable coffee.

Starbucks acquired Ethos Water, a bottled water brand that donates a portion of proceeds to water access projects in developing countries, expanding its social responsibility initiatives.

Image source: Ethos Water

With same-store sales falling during the financial crisis, Jim Donald was ousted and founder Howard Schultz returned as CEO, launching a turnaround plan focused on restoring quality and customer experience.

Starbucks launched My Starbucks Idea, a crowdsourcing website where customers could submit suggestions, many of which influenced new products and services such as free Wi-Fi and loyalty rewards.

Starbucks announced the closure of approximately 600 underperforming U.S. stores and cut thousands of jobs as part of Schultz's restructuring to combat overexpansion and the economic downturn.

Starbucks introduced mobile payment functionality in its app, allowing customers to pay with their smartphones. It became one of the most widely used mobile payment systems in the United States.

The first Starbucks Reserve Roastery opened in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, a large-format experiential store featuring small-batch roasted coffees, tasting rooms, and theatrical brewing methods.

Starbucks launched Race Together, encouraging baristas to write the phrase on cups to spark conversations about race in America. The campaign drew widespread criticism and was quickly scaled back.

Two Black men were arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks while waiting for a friend, sparking accusations of racial profiling. Starbucks closed more than 8,000 U.S. stores for an afternoon of anti-bias training.

Image source: Starbucks

Starbucks announced it would phase out single-use plastic straws across its more than 28,000 stores worldwide, replacing them with strawless lids as part of its environmental sustainability goals.

Starbucks opened its first store outside North America in Tokyo's Ginza district through a joint venture with Sazaby Inc., followed by Singapore, launching its global expansion strategy.

Starbucks acquired the British chain Seattle Coffee Company for about $86 million, giving it an established foothold in the UK market and rebranding those stores as Starbucks.

Starbucks entered mainland China with a store in Beijing, beginning what would become its most important international market, where it would eventually operate thousands of stores.

Starbucks opened its largest store ever, a 30,000-square-foot Reserve Roastery in Shanghai, underscoring China's importance to the company's global growth strategy.