Affogato being prepared at the Starbucks Chicago Roastery | Photo credit: Starbucks Coffee Company

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More than half of Starbucks' sales now come from cold beverages, the coffee chain's CEO Kevin Johnson has revealed. “More than 50% of the beverages that we sell at Starbucks are cold,” he said in an interview with US broadcaster CNBC.

Striking an optimistic tone, Johnson also outlined Starbucks’ commitment to welcoming customers back in-store as the Covid-19 crisis recedes in 2021.
 
“As we get vaccinations rolled out, we are on the cusp of what we call the Great Human reconnection… Starbucks was built for this moment – the opportunity to bring customers back into our stores, make them feel part of a community,” he said.
 
In a separate press release marking the businesses’ half-century milestone, Starbucks said consumers have spent more than $1bn on its cold beverages over the last three years, with the coffee chain capitalising consumer appetite for a broader range of cold coffee products.
 
“We’ve made great advances in cold coffee innovation in response to the ever-growing customer demand and interest, from Cold Brew, to Nitro Cold Brew to the newest Iced Shaken Espresso beverages,” said Luigi Bonini, Senior Vice President, Global Product and Research & Development at Starbucks.

Starbucks is charting a delicate path to recovery following severe Covid-19 disruption to its stores globally. Reporting its first quarter results in January 2021, the Seattle-based coffee chain posted consolidated net revenues of $6.7bn for the 13-weeks to 27 December 2020, a 5% decline on the same period in 2019.

However, in China, Starbucks’ key growth market, like-for-like sales grew 5%, reflecting the East Asian country’s more advanced recovery from Covid-19 compared to many economies globally.