SEATTLE — Starbucks Corp. unveiled plans to launch Starbucks Mercato, a new menu of lunch items, during its annual meeting of shareholders March 22. Starbucks Mercato will feature grab-and-go salads and sandwiches that are made daily and meet a variety of dietary lifestyles.
The Mercato menu initially will launch in more than 100 stores in Chicago on April 11 with plans to expand to other US markets. Leftover items will be donated nightly to local food banks through Starbucks FoodShare program with Feeding America.
Starbucks also introduced a gluten-free smoked Canadian bacon breakfast sandwich and a certified vegan sprouted grain bagel that will be offered in Starbucks stores across the United States. The two introductions show how Starbucks is meeting customers’ needs for on-the-go choices that fit their lifestyle, the Seattle-based company said.
Starbucks has grown its food business by 1.5 times since 2013 and plans to double its food business by 2021.
Teavana shaken iced tea infusions with no artificial flavors or sweeteners will launch this summer. The items will be available in three varieties: pineapple black tea infusion, strawberry green tea infusion and peach citrus white tea infusion. The taste is a balance of premium tea and freshly steeped fruit and botanical blends, Starbucks said.
Starbucks also said it plans to create more than 240,000 jobs globally, including 68,000 in the United States, as the company plans to open 12,000 new stores globally, including 3,400 in the United States, by fiscal-year 2021.
Company shareholders elected Rosalind G. Brewer, former president and CEO of Sam’s Club, Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, executive chairman of LEGO Brand Group, and Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft Corp., to the board of directors, which now has 14 members. James (Jamie) Shennan Jr., a Starbucks director since March of 1990, retired from the board.
