Starbucks (SBUX, $71.50) to bet on food start-ups for future growth
Ahead of its annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday, Starbucks announced it would target two areas: food start-ups and improving its in-store experience to achieve future growth.
The company announced that it plans to invest $100 million in a new venture fund with Valor Equity Partners, which has previously invested in Tesla and SpaceX.
Over the last couple of years, investing in start-ups had become increasingly popular amongst the different food companies owing to the rapidly changing taste of customers.
Faced by a similar issue, this investment provides Starbucks a window of opportunity to achieve future growth as it tries to address less customer footfall for its calorie-heavy Frappucinos. Adopting a similar strategy, struggling food giant Kraft Heinz launched its own fund in October, following the example of Big Food rivals Campbell Soup, Kellogg and General Mills.
Further the Seattle-based coffee giant announced that starting this summer, the company would focus on improving the store experience for customers by upgrading its stores. Stores at the New York City locations would be the first ones to undergo upgrades.
