NEW YORK —
For years, Starbucks has blamed inconsistent sales in the United States on a familiar culprit: stores that can’t reliably keep basics on hand. Missing milk deliveries, unavailable pastries, or even a lack of cup lids have repeatedly disrupted the customer experience across the company’s thousands of U.S. locations. The issue has persisted long enough that four different chief executives over the past five years have publicly pointed to supply problems as a drag on performance.
Now, under CEO Brian Niccol, fixing those shortages has become a central pillar of Starbucks’ latest turnaround strategy. But behind the scenes, the challenges appear far more complex — and far more entrenched — than a simple case of short-term supply hiccups.
A Structural Problem, Not a Passing Glitch
According to interviews with current and former Starbucks corporate employees, including several senior managers, the company’s inventory troubles stem from a mix of outdated systems, fragmented logistics and overly ambitious technological fixes. While Niccol has emphasized better forecasting, automation and AI-driven supply planning, many insiders say the underlying infrastructure has struggled to keep pace with the scale and complexity of Starbucks’ U.S. operations.
At the heart of the issue is a sprawling supplier network. Starbucks sources ingredients and packaging from a wide range of regional and national vendors, a setup that offers flexibility but also creates vulnerabilities. When one link in the chain falters — whether due to labor shortages, weather disruptions or transportation delays — stores can be left scrambling.
When Technology Complicates the Fix
In recent years, Starbucks has increasingly turned to advanced analytics and AI tools to predict demand and streamline replenishment. The goal was to anticipate shortages before they happen and automatically adjust orders across thousands of stores. In practice, however, employees say those systems don’t always talk to one another smoothly.
Legacy software, some of it designed years before Starbucks expanded its digital and delivery offerings, still underpins parts of the supply chain. Integrating modern AI tools into that older framework has been uneven, leading to miscalculations and delayed responses. In some cases, automated systems flagged shortages too late — or overcorrected, sending excess inventory to one location while another ran out of essentials.
Store-Level Frustration
For baristas and store managers, the consequences are immediate. Running out of key items during peak hours can frustrate customers and staff alike, eroding brand trust one latte at a time. Employees say they often spend valuable time improvising solutions or explaining shortages to customers, undermining Starbucks’ promise of consistency.
Internally, some managers question whether technology alone can fix a problem rooted in organization and coordination. Several former executives described past efforts as “patchwork solutions” that treated symptoms without addressing the underlying design of the supply network.
Can Niccol Break the Cycle?
Brian Niccol’s leadership has brought renewed urgency to the issue, with a sharper focus on operational discipline. His turnaround plan emphasizes accountability, clearer performance metrics and more direct oversight of supply reliability. Yet insiders caution that meaningful improvement may take years, not quarters.
Rebuilding supply systems at Starbucks’ scale requires more than software upgrades. It involves renegotiating supplier relationships, simplifying logistics, retraining staff and potentially rethinking how much automation should be trusted in a business that depends on real-time, human-driven demand.
A Storm or a Signal?
For investors and customers, the question remains whether Starbucks’ supply troubles are a temporary storm or a warning sign of deeper structural challenges. AI and advanced analytics can be powerful tools, but without a cohesive foundation, they risk amplifying problems rather than solving them.
As Starbucks pushes ahead with its turnaround, the company’s ability to consistently stock milk, pastries and cups may prove just as important as new drinks or loyalty perks. In the end, even the world’s most recognizable coffee brand depends on getting the basics right — one delivery, and one store shelf, at a time.