Technology

Starbucks is doubling down on coffee delivery

The coffee giant is expanding its deal with DoorDash nationwide and expects delivery to be available in all 50 states by March.
Starbucks DoorDash
Starbucks and DoorDash plan to make their partnership national by March. / Photo courtesy of Starbucks.

You will soon be able to DoorDash that Venti Iced Americano with two pumps of caramel and cream foam.

Starbucks is making a bigger push into delivery. The Seattle-based coffee giant on Tuesday said it would make its menu available on DoorDash in all 50 states by March of this year.

The company launched delivery in Northern California, Texas, Georgia, Florida and other select markets on Tuesday. That follows a successful pilot test in Atlanta, Houston and Sacramento and market expansion into Seattle, Portland and New York City last year.

The partnership “allows us to provide our customers with another convenient way to enjoy Starbucks wherever they are,” Brooke O’Berry, Starbucks SVP of digital experiences, said in a statement. “Delivery continues to represent a significant growth opportunity for Starbucks, and we’re excited to reach more customers by partnering with DoorDash.”

Starbucks, which once prided itself on being a “third place” outside of work and home where people can gather, has rapidly turned into a convenience-focused coffee concept. Three-quarters of its sales come through mobile ordering, drive-thru and now delivery.

In China, where delivery is vital for many restaurant chains, the service amounts to nearly a quarter of the chain’s sales. In the U.S., delivery is growing about 20% per year. “We didn’t have a delivery business 18 months ago,” Interim CEO Howard Schultz said in September, according to a transcript on the financial services site Sentieo. “That delivery business is on fire today.”

And that’s without a national partnership with DoorDash, the country’s largest third-party delivery provider. “When you combine the exceptional quality of Starbucks handcrafted beverages and food with the logistics power and geographic scale of DoorDash, the result is extraordinary for coffee lovers nationwide,” Sanjay Kotte, DoorDash’s head of strategic partnerships, said in a statement.

Starbucks said it would offer 95% of its core menu on DoorDash and that customers can customize their orders within the delivery app.

Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.

Multimedia

Exclusive Content

Financing

Despite their complaints, customers keep flocking to Chipotle

The Bottom Line: The chain continued to be a juggernaut last quarter, with strong sales and traffic growth, despite frequent social media complaints about shrinkflation or other challenges.

Operations

Hitting resistance elsewhere, ghost kitchens and virtual concepts find a happy home in family dining

Reality Check: Old-guard chains are finding the alternative operations to be persistently effective side hustles.

Financing

The Tijuana Flats bankruptcy highlights the dangers of menu miscues

The Bottom Line: The fast-casual chain’s problems following new menu debuts in 2021 and 2022 show that adding new items isn’t always the right idea.

Trending

More from our partners