Starbucks makes its next move: Italian cafes
Starbucks Coffee Company is doing something it has never done before: breaking bread on site.
Starbucks has opened its first Princi bakery and café location in the U.S., at its Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Seattle. Princi, which operates stores across Milan and in London’s SoHo neighborhood, will become the exclusive food offering in all new Starbucks Reserve Roastery locations, including Shanghai, opening in December 2017. (Additional announced Roastery locations include Milan, New York, Tokyo and Chicago.) In addition, Starbucks plans to open freestanding Princi stores in the U.S., starting in 2018.
Similar to Princi's European stores, the location at the Seattle Roastery is centered around ovens with food baked fresh on site. The menu will shift throughout the day. More than 100 menu items – ranging from pastries to focaccia sandwiches – are available daily, using ingredients imported from Italy.
"Rocco Princi (founder of Princi) is an artisan who, at an early age, discovered a love of bread making and through determination as well as an obsession for finding the perfect ingredients, has created an Italian food experience that I think is unparalleled,” said Howard Schultz, executive chairman, Starbucks. “His passion for authentic food and respect for Milanese culture come through in everything he does, and I think our customers are going to fall in love with Princi.”
In 2016, Starbucks announced that it had joined a global investment team – which includes Milan-based Angel Capital Management and Pekepan Investments – to expand Princi bakeries into international markets.
This isn't the first time Starbucks has turned to a bakery to enhance its food offerings. In 2012, the company bought La Boulange, a San Francisco-based chain with 23 locations. Although Starbucks had plans to expand the brand, the company ended up closing all of La Boulange locations some three years later, saying that the stores were “not sustainable for the company's long-term growth.”
Starbucks has opened its first Princi bakery and café location in the U.S., at its Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Seattle. Princi, which operates stores across Milan and in London’s SoHo neighborhood, will become the exclusive food offering in all new Starbucks Reserve Roastery locations, including Shanghai, opening in December 2017. (Additional announced Roastery locations include Milan, New York, Tokyo and Chicago.) In addition, Starbucks plans to open freestanding Princi stores in the U.S., starting in 2018.
Similar to Princi's European stores, the location at the Seattle Roastery is centered around ovens with food baked fresh on site. The menu will shift throughout the day. More than 100 menu items – ranging from pastries to focaccia sandwiches – are available daily, using ingredients imported from Italy.
"Rocco Princi (founder of Princi) is an artisan who, at an early age, discovered a love of bread making and through determination as well as an obsession for finding the perfect ingredients, has created an Italian food experience that I think is unparalleled,” said Howard Schultz, executive chairman, Starbucks. “His passion for authentic food and respect for Milanese culture come through in everything he does, and I think our customers are going to fall in love with Princi.”
In 2016, Starbucks announced that it had joined a global investment team – which includes Milan-based Angel Capital Management and Pekepan Investments – to expand Princi bakeries into international markets.
This isn't the first time Starbucks has turned to a bakery to enhance its food offerings. In 2012, the company bought La Boulange, a San Francisco-based chain with 23 locations. Although Starbucks had plans to expand the brand, the company ended up closing all of La Boulange locations some three years later, saying that the stores were “not sustainable for the company's long-term growth.”