Starbucks will stop selling Italian brand baked goods in most of its upscale cafes, eliminating a popular label introduced by former CEO Howard Schultz.
The Seattle-based coffee chain is phasing out its Princi line of pastries and other baked goods from the menus of its eight Roastery and Reserve stores in the U.S. and China. According to an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg News.
No timeline was given for the phaseout, which the company decided to do before Brian Nicol took over as CEO earlier this month, Bloomberg reported.
Roastery and Reserve stores will continue to sell non-Princi branded sandwiches, croissants and other assortments of food items.
Princi is an Italian bakery and cafe brand known for its artisan breads, pastries, and other baked goods. With Starbucks as an investor, Princi opened standalone stores in New York, Seattle, and Chicago.
In 2016, Starbucks, then led by Schultz, partnered with Princi to bring baked goods to the chain's Reserve Roasteries in New York, Seattle, Tokyo and Chicago.
Two years later, the company opened its first standalone Princi Bakery at Seattle Reserve Roastery.
Princi-branded items will be sold at 11 Starbucks Reserve stores in Tokyo and a roastery in Milan.
“We are committed to continuing to offer our customers at Starbucks Reserve stores in the U.S. the same menu of handcrafted, artisanal food made with high-quality ingredients and prepared daily by our chefs, and to partner with Principi at our Tokyo Roastery. We look forward to continuing to book our locations and Milano Roastery. ” Starbucks said in a statement to Nation's Restaurant News.
Brooklyn-born Schultz is credited with building Starbucks from a small chain with a few coffee shops in Seattle to a global giant with more than 38,000 stores in 86 countries.
The executive said the Starbucks concept was inspired by a trip to Italy, where he saw coffee drinkers patronizing espresso bars and was in awe of the country's coffee house culture. .
He envisioned more than 1,000 independent Princi Stores and 1,000 Reserve Stores, high-end establishments selling hard-to-find coffees, cocktails, and food.
Schultz resigned as CEO of Starbucks three times, the last time being replaced in March 2023 by Laxman Narasimhan.
But Narasimhan's tenure has been marred by weak sales, declining profits and lackluster performance for Starbucks stock, and Nicol, whose career includes successful executive roles at Taco Bell and Chipotle led to the appointment of
