26/03/2023
Laxman Narasimhan, who officially stepped into the role of Starbucks CEO this week, has for months immersed himself in the operations of the world's largest coffee chain, including spending time as a barista at different cafes, he said.
The former PepsiCo executive, who most recently served
as the CEO of U.K.-based Lysol-maker Reckitt, is
Starbucks's fifth chief executive and the first to come from outside the operation since departing CEO Howard Schultz acquired it in 1987. The 55-year-old India native now oversees a company in flux. The Seattle-based chain has generated record sales in recent quarters, but it has acknowledged that service has
suffered. Customers regularly queue up in cafes and drive-through lanes, ordering often complex beverages, most taken to go. Starbucks is set to spend billions of dollars over the next three years to try to improve its stores and labor situation.
Narasimhan said he plans to regularly work alongside baristas in cafes to understand why it sometimes is so aggravating to get a customer a simple cup of coffee. He intends to work four hours in a different Starbucks store each month and expects his senior leaders to do the same.
He spent 40 hours training to become a certified barista and visited stores and facilities in the U.S., Europe and Japan. While working the drive-through earlier this month at a new Starbucks on Chicago's South Side, he greeted customers pulling up to the drive-through, made change and processed loyalty cards. Sometimes he needed to repeatedly scan customers' phones for payment.
"We have got to find ways to ensure that we do listen and
stay connected," Narasimhan said.
