Starbucks Runs Short on Cups, Syrup as Eased Covid-19 Revives Sales -- Update
June 09 2021 - 9:44PM
Dow Jones News
By Heather Haddon
Starbucks Corp. is running short in some stores on basics
including cups and coffee syrups, baristas said, as the chain
grinds back to full operations in the wake of the Covid-19
pandemic.
Cake pops, cup stoppers and mocha flavoring are among the items
that have run out in places at times, some baristas said. The
company is pausing production on several lower-sales items to focus
on higher-selling ones, one person familiar with those plans
said.
A Starbucks spokeswoman said shortages of some items are
temporary and vary by store and market. The company has temporarily
removed oat milk and beverages made with the dairy substitute from
its app until it restocks its inventory, she said.
Visual evidence of the Covid-19 pandemic is disappearing across
the U.S. as new cases fall and states remove restrictions on
businesses and public gatherings. As the economy roars back to
life, many businesses have run short on labor and the goods they
need to serve customers eager to return to restaurants and concert
halls. Ketchup packets and frying oil are among other supplies that
have fallen into scarcity in recent months.
Starbucks employees said they are serving drinks in different
cup sizes when the proper ones aren't available. Some customers
have grumbled when their preferred items were out of stock, some of
those employees said.
"Due to current supply shortages, some of your favorites may be
temporarily out of stock," Starbucks wrote to its app users earlier
this week. "We're sorry for the inconvenience."
Starbucks has recovered much of the U.S. sales that evaporated
earlier in the pandemic, and is now restoring limited seating to
more domestic cafes. Chief Executive Kevin Johnson said during The
Wall Street Journal's Future of Everything Festival last month that
the company wants to bring back indoor service on a limited basis
across its U.S. stores, up from roughly 60% of locations at the
time.
Hiring enough workers for cafes has been a problem in some parts
of the country, Starbucks baristas said. One Wisconsin store
recently put up a notice offering baristas $200 if they referred
someone to be hired by the chain from June until the end of
August.
Mr. Johnson said the company was in a good position regarding
staffing at U.S. stores. He added that some of the company's
distributors and suppliers have had to navigate issues in hiring
and trucking that have crimped deliveries to the chain, but were
working on adding staff. He said new plants being built by Swedish
oat-milk maker Oatly Group AB should help build up Starbucks's
supply of the beverage.
Write to Heather Haddon at heather.haddon@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 09, 2021 21:39 ET (01:39 GMT)
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