By Alistair Gray,Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson,Shannon Bond in New York, in San Francisco
Starbucks is teaming up with Uber to offer coffee delivery from 2,000 of its US outlets as it pushes for new sources of sales in its domestic market in the face of declining expectations for long-term earnings growth.
Kevin Johnson, chief executive, said in an interview that Starbucks was mimicking in the US the kind of delivery partnership it recently launched in China with Alibaba. In China, it offers delivery in 30 cities, having launched only three months ago.
“We’ve learned a tremendous amount about delivery and we’re now applying those learnings here in the US,” he said.
The push into coffee delivery is Starbucks’ latest initiative to reinvigorate growth in the US, following an aggressive expansion that has taken its global coffee shop count to almost 30,000.
Mr Johnson highlighted the working relationship he had established in the past six months with Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s chief executive. The San Francisco ride-hailing company coded software to integrate with Starbucks.
Challenges include delivering the coffee at the right temperature, although Mr Johnson said that in China it was “very close” to being as hot upon delivery as it would be in a café.
The tie-up with Starbucks is a win for Uber as the ride-hailing company prepares to launch on the stock market next year. Uber has held up its Eats division as an example of how it can diversify its business into new markets and new lines of revenue — and support a public valuation that bankers believe could exceed $100bn.
Uber Eats, launched in 2014, has become the largest food delivery service outside China. The business operates in more than 350 cities in 36 countries and has been pushing into new markets across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and suburban North America this year. Corporate partners include McDonald’s, Popeyes and Subway.