Skip to main content

Starbucks Planning $130 Million Investment in New China Roastery

Shanghai_Roastery_2

The Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Shanghai, which opened in 2017. Starbucks press photo by Joshua Trujillo.

Starbucks has announced plans to invest $130 million for a production facility in China called the Coffee Innovation Park.

It would be Starbucks’ first large-scale production roastery in what is now the company’s second largest retail market, China, where the company plans to have 6,000 stores by 2022.

Also planned to open in 2022, the facility is expected to include a roasting plant, warehouses and a distribution center. As of March 13, construction was expected to begin later this year in the city of Kunshan, northwest of Shanghai. Starbucks has not forecasted any construction delays due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite being in the Chinese market for more than 20 years and having approximately 4,300 stores there, Starbucks has not to this point operated a large-scale production roastery in the country, according to the company.

Outside of its Reserve-brand roasteries — including one about an hour away from the proposed facility — Starbucks currently operates five production roasteries in the United States and one in Amsterdam for all of its European distribution.

Starbucks is hoping to meet the U.S. Green Building Council‘s highest certification for new buildings, LEED Platinum.

“We recently announced a bold multi-decade aspiration to become a planet positive company — a company that gives more than we take from the planet,” Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson said in an announcement last week. “China is one of our most important markets and The Coffee Innovation Park is an important, strategic investment that has a positive impact on our carbon footprint and supports our long term sustainability goals.”

The Starbucks announcement follows an industrial roastery groundbreaking from its largest retail competitor in China, Luckin Coffee, that took place in January.

Comment

40 Comments

Tammy

Won’t buy Starbucks coffee no more, coffee products from China poisonings you very soon

Maria

Don’t care for their coffee. That’s a good thing. I’d help them close up the shops they hold here in America if they take their employees with them!
Anti American companies have made themselves millions and that’s capitalism. ONLY in the USA and then resent the very country where the opportunities exist! Shame on them!
Happy Easter!

Janice Marshall

That ends SB for me which includes packing up those trashy cups. Long live the memory of the first SB in Seattle. It will never be the same now.

Candace

I know a better place where Starbucks can invest… Rwanda!!! Pull your head out out of the sand Starbucks.

Shirley Havel

I quit supporting Starbucks when they started sending big donations to the Democrat party. This just enforces it.

Barney

Seriously China? I have been a daily customer even while I didnt agree with thier agenda. But I haven’t been there in weeks due to virus. I will NOT be back. America first and foremost 🇺🇸

john r hewitt

WOW! after seeing what china has done to America these past number of weeks, and now SB is opening a roasting company there?????!!! So long, SB, you finally drove me away!!!

Jason

Why don’t they put it in a country like Colombia or Brazil that actually GROWS the best coffee beans in the World
I dont drink coffee,, but the thought of CHINA producing the coffee sounds like the Product will go Down Hill

Roger Dample

There are plenty very good coffee companies in the USA., so us all tell Starbucks where to go. To China where they can poison people without any repercussions.

Malinda Coffey

I became a nonfan of Starbucks when they refused to send coffee to the soldiers stationed far away in Afghanistan. It was a small request from a soldier at a time when he needed a touch of home while on the front lines. But by then the big coffee company decided that it was too great a sacrifice to bag up some to send to this homesick soldier. Stick it where the sun don’t shine STARBUCKS.

Connie white

I’ve been a customer for more than 10 years. Everyday habit sometimes twice a day. It’s time for a change!!

Jim

I agree, any company that donates to the DNC, I’ll boycott as well. I drank a Starbucks one when I drove over the road in an big rig. Only because it was in the truck stop.
“YUK NASTY COFFEE”!

Josh

That’s it for me and Starbucks. On a more positive front, they probably won’t have the same problem with the homeless and mentally ill as they do in the US. China don’t play that game, choosing instead to take those folks out back and shoot ‘em.

Sad that any company that was made successful by the US will embrace China these days, especially after Wuhan.

Jerry Eastman

One would think Starbuck’s would want to support AMERICA. Well, perhaps if they had a different CEO……….

Christine M. Ruback

Jees O Pete, Did you guys and gals even read the above article?? It says China is their 2nd largest market. They are building a roasting operation in the company cause it makes perfect sense. Why not build there so they do not have to ship it all and incur extra costs? They already have many plants here in the Good Ol USA and it looks like one in another country (Was it Belgium?) to supply their European storefronts. I agree that their coffee isn’t the best (tastes kind of burnt), but to act like they are some kind of traitor just for expanding into a very prosperous and growing market over seas is a bit Over reaching I think. Please reread the entire article and understand that Starbucks is still a VERY AMERICAN company.

LARRY MARTELL

You’re missing the point. After what China has done we shouldn’t be investing in ANYTHING there. We shouldn’t do business with China at all anymore. There are better options.

DJ

SB has focused on competition and conquering market share. Greed develops. Now China?!…. EVERYONE BE DONE WITH STAR BUCKS! I have them up last year. I LIVE my Counter Culture coffee and Chemex pour-over… foam and all!

Joe Davis

Supply chains may deem that the China market but if one rumor raises that you are shipping those beans back to USA I will make sure your products NEVER get back in my home

Barbara Hansen

I don’t support communism in any form. SB wants to develop that market, fine. I don’t have to support it. There are ample opportunities to expand in Free World Countries.
I see no reason whatsoever their burning desire to hire communist workers.
AND their coffee is waaay over-priced and not all that great.

Linda Peplinskie

I will not be going to Starbucks or giving their gift cards as gifts

Rebecca

That does it for me. After this virus has decimated the world(and they knowingly did it), I won’t be supporting SB again.

Marsha

Hmmm…..it does not say they are closing the 5 roasting plants here in the USA and moving everything to China. They are building one in China to serve their stores in China. So why would you boycott then? They are still roasting at 5 different plants here for the USA stores. My daughter has worked for Starbucks for almost 5 years with benefits! Better than Walmart or most fast food places.

Terry

We need to stop going to McDonalds or stop buying from any businesses that we have in China ! This is getting ridiculous. He is not moving his business folks.

Shirl Mason

I cannot believe this. Kicking us when we’re down. Don’t worry, karma is great. Trump 20/20

alice

Shove your shit you call coffee up your ass you deserve to go out of bussiness!!!

Jim

Absolutely Maybe they can lose $130 mil in our UNITED STATES to spend that amount in China _ hopefully go down hill begging for sales back here🇺🇸😂🤣🇺🇸

Sue

If they proceed with this, I am done with Starbucks. There are other coffee shops that need my business.

Chris

Is this thread full of right-wing bots? It’s absolutely incorrect to read this article and think that Starbucks is shifting all production to China. Starbucks is creating CIP to supply coffee to China FROM China. They are not abandoning America… lol.

For those saying invest in other origin countries–they do. They partner with CI and use CAFE Practices to promote industry-leading relationships and quality.

Rwanda? They exclusively purchase Rwanda Hingakawa coffee that supports an entire community in Abukundakawa.

Veterans? They have hired 30,000 vets, donated THOUSANDS of pounds coffee to active duty soldiers.

American jobs?
Kent Flexible Plant, Carson Valley Roasting Plant, Augusta Roasting/Soluble Plant, Sandy Run Roasting Plant, and York Roasting Plant + Distribution Centers AND Green Coffee (third party) Warehouses support tens of THOUSANDS of jobs in AMERICA. If you drink Starbucks coffee in America, it was made in America. So enough of that non-sense.

I love my neighborhood coffee shops AND I love Starbucks. To all the ill-formed haters, at least TRY to pretend like you know what you’re talking about 🙂

Vets:
https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/starbucks-offers-free-coffee-to-veterans-active-duty-and-military-spouses-on-veterans-day/
CAFE Practices:
http://www.ecolabelindex.com/ecolabel/cafe-practices
Rwanda:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfSSN7aHXAg
American Jobs:
https://www.industryweek.com/the-economy/article/21958306/starbucks-says-its-proud-to-be-creating-american-jobs

Happy reading 😉

Eric G. Mendez

Sound good to hear it. It’s a huge amount of investment, Starbucks can do it because a brand always spread his business in overall the world that isn’t bad. Some Philosophers in comments says that it will not be good for Starbucks. But Starbucks a brand his Owners know that where they should be invest or not. Starbucks always a struggling brand. Starbucks says Partners to his workers not “worker”. This is totally different term. Starbucks partners always work very hard. They work in overtime called “Starbucks Partner Hours”. Starbucks Partners behavior is very cooperative. If you want to know about Starbucks Partner Hours then you can visit my website:
https://starbuckspartnerhours.pro/

Comments are closed.