Starbucks Celebrates 40 Years of Great Coffee with New Look and New Global Products

Over the past 40 years, Starbucks has played a vital role in local communities and has committed to inspiring and investing in community action around the world.

3/8/2011 --- Starbucks celebrates 40 years of sourcing, roasting and serving the world's highest quality coffee and announces tomorrow it will roll out its new in-store look focusing on the iconic Siren, and a simultaneous global launch of handcrafted and artfully made beverage and food offerings. Starbucks also introduced a company-wide commitment to community service as part of its ongoing mission to help create thriving neighborhoods. Starbucks began its journey as a roaster and retailer of high-quality coffees in 1971 in a small retail space in Seattle's Pike Place Market.

"Starbucks is celebrating 40 years of great coffee, but we are also honoring four decades of creating individual moments of connection among our valued customers and our store partners, and in the neighborhoods where we do business," said Howard Schultz, chairman, president and ceo. "As we continue to connect with more customers around the world in innovative ways, our brand is also evolving to address the changing global market. Our new logo, which customers will see in stores, reflects this evolution by honoring our deep coffee heritage while allowing us to grow in exciting new ways."

Brand Evolution

Starting tomorrow customers around the world will begin to see the evolution of Starbucks brand, signaling the company's continued growth and unique business model. Starbucks iconic white cups and promotional merchandise will now carry the new logo that celebrates the Starbucks Siren. Four store fronts across the globe will unveil the new logo: Solana store in Beijing, Avenue de l'Opera in Paris, Brompton Road in London, and Times Square in New York City. Additionally, the new Siren design will be unveiled outside of the Starbucks headquarters in Seattle during a lunchtime partner (employee) celebration.

New Products Launch

As a testament to the core of what Starbucks does best - premium handcrafted espresso and exceptional coffee and food offerings - Starbucks new items include:

* Cocoa Cappuccino, combines fresh espresso, bittersweet mocha sauce, just the right amounts of steamed milk and foam, and topped with a signature mocha drizzle.
* Starbucks Tribute Blend, an unexpected blend of four different coffee beans including Aged Sumatra that is semi-washed and aged, Sun-dried Ethiopian coffee that is naturally processed, and washed coffees from Papua New Guinea and Colombia.
* Starbucks VIA Ready Brew Starbucks Tribute Blend, this special blend coffee is also available as Starbucks VIA® Ready Brew for Starbucks Tribute Blend in an instant.
* Starbucks Petites, a new global food platform launching with eight delicious small sweets that are perfectly sized for an afternoon treat, including Cake Pops (available in Birthday Cake, Rocky Road and Tiramisu flavors), Red Velvet Whoopie Pies, Mini Cupcakes (Carrot Cake and Peanut Butter) and Sweet Squares (Lemon and Salty Caramel).

Starbucks is paying tribute to customers as part of anniversary celebrations. March 10, 11 and 12 from 2-5 p.m. local time, customers can enjoy a complimentary Starbucks Petites treat with the purchase of their favorite beverage at participating stores in U.S. and Canada.

Commitment to Thriving Neighborhoods

Over the past 40 years, Starbucks has played a vital role in local communities and has committed to inspiring and investing in community action around the world. Throughout the month of April 2011, Starbucks will host a Global Month of Service to celebrate its commitment to community service.

“We live our mission and values by providing exceptional customer service inside our stores and by inviting customers to join us in community service outside our stores,” said Vivek Varma, executive vice president of Public Affairs. “Our Global Month of Service is a meaningful opportunity for Starbucks partners and customers to join together as change makers to address real needs in the communities where they live and work. We believe we can use our scale to be a catalyst for positive change.”

Starbucks will work with nonprofit organizations to organize more than 2,000 service projects around the world with a goal of reaching 200,000 hours of service performed by Starbucks partners and customers. These volunteer hours will help Starbucks reach its goal of contributing one million hours of community service per year by 2015.