What is Starbucks?
Global coffeehouse company operating company-owned and licensed stores, digital ordering, loyalty, packaged coffee, and ready-to-drink products.
- Category
- Coffeehouse restaurants
- Headquarters
- Seattle, WA
- Founded
- 1971
- Employees
- 381,000
- Total funding
- Public company; IPO 1992
- Status
- Nasdaq: SBUX; ~$115B market cap
What is Starbucks?
Starbucks is a global coffeehouse company that sells handcrafted beverages, food, packaged coffee, ready-to-drink products, and digital loyalty experiences. It operates company-owned stores and licenses stores to partners in many international markets.
Starbucks generated $36.2 billion in fiscal 2025 net revenues and operated across company-owned, licensed, and channel development businesses. Company-operated stores accounted for most revenue, while licensed stores and packaged products extend the brand with lower capital intensity.
As of fiscal 2025, Starbucks had more than 40,000 stores globally and hundreds of thousands of partners across stores, support centers, roasting, logistics, and corporate functions. Its 2025-2026 strategy is organized around Brian Niccol's Back to Starbucks turnaround, with renewed focus on store experience, speed of service, menu simplification, partner staffing, and international growth.
For sellers, Starbucks is a scaled foodservice, retail, digital, supply-chain, and workforce buyer. The strongest entry points are store operations, labor scheduling, loyalty and personalization, mobile ordering, payments, supply chain, coffee sourcing, facilities, and customer experience measurement.
What does Starbucks offer?
Starbucks offers coffee, espresso beverages, teas, refreshers, food, packaged coffee, at-home products, ready-to-drink products, rewards, mobile order and pay, and licensed store formats.
- Coffee and espresso beverages· Menu
- Tea and refreshers· Menu
- Food and bakery· Menu
- Starbucks Rewards· Loyalty
- Mobile order and pay· Digital commerce
- Company-operated stores· Retail
- Licensed stores· Retail
- Packaged coffee and ready-to-drink· CPG
How does Starbucks make money?
Starbucks makes most of its money from company-operated store sales, with additional revenue from licensed stores, packaged coffee, ready-to-drink partnerships, and other channels.
Starbucks' core revenue line is food and beverage sales in company-operated stores; the annual report says company-operated stores accounted for 83% of fiscal 2025 total net revenues. Menu prices vary by market, product, size, customization, channel, and local store, so Starbucks quotes actual prices in its app, website, and store menus rather than one global price sheet.
Licensed stores produce royalty and product revenue with lower capital requirements, and Channel Development monetizes packaged coffee, single-serve products, and ready-to-drink partnerships. The model is driven by transactions, average ticket, store count, beverage innovation, loyalty engagement, staffing, speed of service, real estate, coffee costs, and wage inflation.
Growth in 2026 is tied to the Back to Starbucks plan: restore the coffeehouse experience, simplify operations, improve throughput, refresh store design, grow digital engagement, and expand internationally through a mix of company-operated and licensed stores. Sellers should connect value to store-level margins, customer frequency, partner productivity, loyalty, supply continuity, and operational simplicity.
Who leads Starbucks?
Starbucks is led by Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol, with Cathy Smith as CFO and Brady Brewer leading Starbucks International.
- Brian NiccolChairman and Chief Executive OfficerCEO since September 2024Former Chipotle CEO leading the Back to Starbucks turnaround.
- Cathy SmithExecutive Vice President and Chief Financial OfficerCFO during the 2025-2026 turnaround periodOwns financial planning, investor messaging, capital allocation, and margin recovery.
- Brady BrewerChief Executive Officer, Starbucks InternationalInternational CEO listed by StarbucksKey leader for licensed-market strategy and international growth.
- Dominic CarrExecutive Vice President, Chief Communications and Corporate Affairs OfficerExecutive leadership role listed by StarbucksImportant stakeholder for communications, policy, reputation, and corporate affairs.
How do you contact Starbucks leadership?
Starbucks publishes investor, media, partnership, and customer contact channels, but it does not publish a verified personal executive email format. Use investorrelations@starbucks.com, press@starbucks.com, or partnerships@starbucks.com rather than guessed personal addresses.
investorrelations@starbucks.com, press@starbucks.com, and partnerships@starbucks.com are public aliases; personal email format not verifiedHow much funding has Starbucks raised?
Starbucks is a mature public company, not a VC-backed startup: it went public in 1992, trades on Nasdaq as SBUX, and had a market capitalization of roughly $115 billion in June 2026.
Starbucks' capital history is defined by public-company growth rather than private funding rounds. The company was founded in 1971, expanded under Howard Schultz, went public in 1992, and now funds growth through store cash flow, licensing economics, public debt/equity access, and disciplined capital allocation.
Fiscal 2025 net revenues were $36.2 billion, and the company continues to invest in stores, digital platforms, partner experience, supply chain, and international expansion. In 2026, investors are watching whether the Back to Starbucks plan can improve traffic, transactions, and margins while preserving brand strength.
Seller signal: Starbucks has large recurring budgets, but operational simplicity matters. Vendors should position around store throughput, labor scheduling, customer frequency, loyalty personalization, payments reliability, supply-chain visibility, coffee sourcing, and faster rollout across a global store base.
How did Starbucks get here?
Starbucks grew from a Seattle coffee retailer into a global coffeehouse system through store expansion, licensing, digital loyalty, and packaged coffee channels.
- 1971Founded in SeattleStarbucks opens at Pike Place Market as a coffee bean and equipment retailer.
- 1987Howard Schultz acquires StarbucksSchultz's Il Giornale acquires Starbucks and begins the modern coffeehouse expansion.
- 1992IPOStarbucks becomes a public company on Nasdaq.
- 2009Starbucks Rewards launchesThe loyalty program becomes a major digital engagement and frequency engine.
- 2024Brian Niccol named CEOThe former Chipotle CEO is hired to lead the Back to Starbucks turnaround.
- 2026Southeast office expansion announcedStarbucks announces a Nashville office complementing its Seattle headquarters.
Who are Starbucks' competitors?
Starbucks competes with coffee chains, quick-service restaurants, convenience stores, local cafes, and packaged coffee brands.
- Dunkin'Coffee and breakfast chain with value, drive-thru, and franchise-led U.S. scale.
- Dutch BrosDrive-thru beverage chain with strong U.S. unit growth and youth-oriented brand energy.
- McDonald'sGlobal QSR with McCafe, breakfast traffic, loyalty, and massive drive-thru reach.
- Tim HortonsCanada-led coffee and breakfast chain with franchise and international expansion.
- Peet's CoffeePremium coffee chain and packaged coffee brand competing for specialty coffee occasions.
Starbucks — frequently asked questions
