Starbucks Bakeries With Fresh Pizza? 3 Key Takeaways From Wednesday’s Investor Conference

a pizza with tomatoes and cheese on a plate

The well-loved Starbucks coffee shop is poised to become even more popular.

Wednesday in New York City, Starbucks outlined their five-year plan to investors at their Biennial conference.

Here are 3 of the biggest takeaways

1. Earlier this year, Starbucks made an investment in Princi, the Milan based pizzeria and bakery with four shops in Italy and one in London. Founded in 1986 by Rocco Princi, the bakery prides itself on quality and specializes in Italian baked goods. With minimalist décor and crisp Armani-clothed staffers, the upscale all-day Princi offers everything from breakfast to dinner, and menus change seasonally to provide fresh and new items.

In 2017 and early 2018, the following Starbucks locations have been selected to get the first stand-alone Italian artisan bakeries

• New York
• Chicago
• Seattle

Two more will be added at a later time, in yet-undetermined locations. A special coffee will also be created to compliment the fresh bakery items.

19% of Starbucks revenue currently comes from food, and 74% is from in-store beverages. Hoping to change that, Princi bakery is also expected to become the exclusive food offering at Starbucks upscale Roastery stores in Shanghai and New York. Ovens at Roastery and Starbucks Reserve locations will also bake the breads from scratch onsite. This is huge, as many cities are slim on bakeries with fresh breads.

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What other sorts of items can you expect? Think focaccia bread in lunch wraps and hot, fresh pizza. No details yet on price, but pizza pricing at the London Princi is reasonable with a freshly made (not frozen and reheated) Margherita pizza for less than 8 USD. Here’s a screenshot of part of their menu –

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Here’s a quick video look at Princi’s partnership with Starbucks –

 

2. Starbucks will be rolling out My Starbucks Barista, an AI app in limited iOS beta in early 2017 where you can place your order via voice command or messaging interface.

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3. Keeping with the theme to increase food sales numbers, you can also expect to see new food items on the menu starting in January 2017 – Sous Vide Egg Bites which are packed with protein, and Cascara Latte which is made with the fruit of the coffee cherry and has notes of maple and brown sugar. There will also be more fresh grab-and-go, Bistro Box items, and regional organic soups.

Sous Vide Eggs
Sous Vide Eggs

To accommodate increasing demand, a gluten-free breakfast sandwich will follow in the spring. In the grocery store thanks to a partnership with Anheuser-Busch you’ll find Teavana Iced Teas in Passion Tango, Mango Black Tea, Peach Green Tea, and Pineapple Berry Blue Herbal Tea flavors. US locations will also see bottled Starbucks Cold Brew Cocoa and Honey with Cream.

What do you think of the upcoming Starbucks changes for 2017?