Starbucks CEO Howard: how to make Chinese blood turn brown? Starbucks General Manager

Starbucks is currently launching a "partner go home" program in China-"partners" who want to take care of their families more closely are beginning to have the opportunity to serve as managers of new stores in the nearest city. This humane program is organically integrated with Starbucks' expansion in China's second-and third-tier cities.

Howard revealed that 15 years ago, when Starbucks wanted to expand beyond Europe and the United States, he chose China. At that time, many people advised him that Chinese people only drink tea rather than coffee, and that the future of coffee expansion should be in India. But Howard believes that the Chinese do not like coffee is an opportunity, he has always been full of confidence in the Chinese market, in the restructuring after 2008, Starbucks mainly closed stores in Australia or the United States. On the other hand, the Chinese market is moving towards Starbucks' largest overseas market.

Starbucks has gone further in localization than its peers in other coffee brands since it announced in 2011 that China would become Starbucks' largest overseas market in 2015, with the goal of opening 1500 stores. It began to sell traditional Chinese festival food moon cakes and zongzi. On Valentine's Day, it served peach blossom Ruyi lattes and continued to launch new products according to seasons and specific festivals.

In terms of management structure, Starbucks has already recovered part of its stake in the joint venture business in China, which was originally jointly operated by three companies in 2011. at present, except for the joint venture between Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, all the stores in other regions have been directly operated. And operational decision-making power has also been devolved from headquarters to the Asia-Pacific region. In the store decoration, Starbucks has appeared bamboo and other environmentally friendly designs with Chinese elements, while the location is no longer confined to the business district, but also began to move into the well-known scenic spots.

'no matter where we are, how developed our business is, no matter how good the status quo is, it's not enough, 'Mr. Howard said. We need to constantly reinvent ourselves and use more innovation to adapt to today's market environment. And local innovation is a very important part. Only in this way will Starbucks not be as fleeting in China as other American trends.

From the Chinese version of Forbes in September 2014

Author: Wu Xiaobo