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The wait time for your grande latte may soon get shorter.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal (NWS+0.58%), a technology pilot at dozens of U.S. locations has succeeded in cleaving two minutes off the average time for a barista to prepare a drink. Starbucks (SBUX+0.29%) noted that three-quarters of orders at the test cafes’ busiest times were completed in four minutes or less, nearing its service-time goal, while not pushing back mobile orders.
The Seattle-based chain says it plans to expand the pilot to hundreds more of Starbucks’s 10,000 U.S. locations.
“We’ve seen such positive benefits from it that the rollout is happening very quickly,” Starbucks Chief Technology Officer Deb Hall Lefevre told the Wall Street Journal.
New Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol, who joined the company last summer, vowed to cut wait times. Social media platforms X and Reddit are littered with complaints of long waits for Starbucks coffee.
To cut waits, Niccol is leaning on a process previously dubbed the “Siren Craft System,” which it designed to speed up drink-making and customer interactions — including by pulling espresso before steaming milk instead of after. Starbucks later cut “Siren” from the name. The company has also partnered with a tech firm to help meet the four-minute target while enhancing in-store operations.
As part of Niccol’s “Back to Starbucks” overhaul, Starbucks has pared down its menu by 30%, cutting underperforming drinks and adding vegan-friendly options. He has stated an aim of reclaiming the chain’s spot as a “third place”.
Starbucks is also using new technology to alleviate staffing bottlenecks and speed pickup times for mobile orders. Baristas are learning to time the making of mobile orders based on factors such as order complexity so that orders aren’t sitting out on the counter for a long time before being picked up.
—Francisco Velasquez contributed to this report.