Starbucks founder Howard Schultz wrote a letter to his Chinese partner!

On January 6th, Chinese President Xi Jinping replied to Howard Schultz, Honorary Chairman of the Board of Directors of Starbucks of the United States.

In his reply, President Xi Jinping encouraged him and Starbucks to continue to play an active role in promoting Sino-US economic and trade cooperation and the development of bilateral relations.

After receiving a reply from the president, Starbucks founder Howard Schultz wrote a letter to Starbucks' Chinese partners.

In the letter, Howard said: he is deeply honored to reply to the letter, and this honor belongs not only to him, but also to each and every one of you (Chinese partners). In his letter, he also expressed his hope: "I hope that while China and the United States seek the basis for cooperation, we can build bridges between the two peoples instead of building high walls."

Starbucks' idea from the beginning was to build a different company. on December 10 last year, Starbucks held a global investor exchange meeting in 2023. Starbucks Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer said: in fiscal year 2020, Starbucks plans to expand the number of stores from 33000 to 55000. In addition, according to the latest Starbucks financial report, despite the severe impact of the epidemic, But instead of stagnating, Starbucks added a net 480 new stores.

In addition, Starbucks also invested in the Starbucks China Coffee Innovation Industry Park last year, which is also Starbucks' first large-scale roasting plant in the Asian market, with a total investment of nearly 1.1 billion yuan ($156 million). Starbucks has previously said it will continue to invest in the Chinese market.

So how did Starbucks grow from a small store to a 32000 + store?

It has been 49 years since Starbucks opened its first store.

In 1992, Starbucks officially went public and began selling coffee with sugar and cream, with a market capitalization of just $250 million. A decade later, Howard Schultz became Starbucks' marketing director. In 2008, Starbucks ran into a financial crisis and temporarily closed 7100 stores in the United States to retrain baristas to make perfect espresso. In 2019, Starbucks opened an average of one new store every 15 hours in China, which has become Starbucks' fastest-growing overseas market.

As for Starbucks' core competitiveness, Starbucks founder Howard Schultz said in an interview with China Economic Weekly: Starbucks provides customers with a unique service model. Through a simple cup of coffee for consumers to establish a deep emotional link, the third space service model is Starbucks pioneering and iconic selling point, this service concept is also the first put forward by Starbucks in the catering industry. The space created by Starbucks perfectly provides a comfortable space for white-collar workers and freelancers, and Starbucks, a selling point that has moved countless users, has also successfully attracted a lot of young consumers. In the Chinese market, Starbucks "third Space" can be said to play its best, and then Starbucks will continue to explore the "third Space" that is more in line with the scene. The coffee industry in the future will also show a parallel trend of "third space" and "fourth space".

In addition, in March last year, Starbucks held its 2020 annual shareholders' meeting online. At the meeting, the head of Starbucks did not pay too much attention to financial data, but announced that it had adjusted its business model of its "third space" experience according to the epidemic situation to ensure the safety of partners and customers. Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson said: "at Starbucks, we are a family, we are people-oriented." That's why we call each other partners. " Starbucks also said at the shareholders' meeting: "Starbucks will always be the first in the eyes of Starbucks, regardless of any other short-term economic impact. At the time of the outbreak, the optimism of Chinese partners gives us confidence. They fully demonstrate the resilience of Starbucks spirit. It is Starbucks' partner resilience that makes us an enduring company, and the partner is the heartbeat of Starbucks."

At present, Starbucks is the largest coffee market in China. According to data, Starbucks has more than 4300 stores in Chinese mainland 180 cities and more than 58000 partners.

* Image source: Internet