2023 Starbucks Letter to Chinese Partners: China to Become Starbucks' Largest Market

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Starbucks CEO's New Year Address to Chinese Partners

Today, Starbucks interim CEO Howard Schultz released a New Year address to Chinese partners on the official website, setting out his vision for the China market. The full text follows.

(The following is a translation)

Dear Chinese Partners,

During the holidays I've been thinking about you and your families. As we enter the new calendar year, I'm reflecting on the tremendous challenges you've faced over the past few years. Despite the continued disruption to your family and work life, I am deeply grateful for your selflessness and your incredible resilience in taking care of one another, serving our customers and supporting our communities. It is in adversity that true character shows. Thank you for staying true to our values and for demonstrating the essence of Starbucks.

I speak with our China leadership team every week and stay in daily contact with Belinda Wong to keep up with developments in China. I was deeply saddened to learn of the surge in infections across the country since early December, which has already significantly affected your lives and our business and will continue to do so. I want to remind you again that the health and wellbeing of you, your families and your partners are our top priority. As China enters the post-pandemic phase and begins to open up fully, we will continue to protect and support our partners.

Over time, the gradual return to normalcy and pre-COVID routines will undoubtedly help our business recover in China. Our customers are eager to return to familiar daily life and lifestyles, and when people feel genuinely safe about going out, the tremendous pent-up consumer demand will be unleashed. That day will come. When it does, customers will flock back to our stores in large numbers to enjoy moments of reconnection, their favorite Starbucks beverages, and the quality Starbucks experience you provide.

Even so, as Belinda has said repeatedly, challenges and uncertainties remain, and the road to recovery will not be a straight line. While the spread of COVID-19 over the past two months has affected every retail business in China, we believe the disruption is temporary and that our stores and customers will gradually return to normal.

I know this because Starbucks' commitment to China, to our partners and to our business here has never wavered, and it holds just as firmly today. I still believe that, even after more than twenty years in this market, we are only in the early chapters of China's story. I believe that one day China will become Starbucks' largest market. Because of you, our Chinese partners, I am certain of it. The ability you have shown to face every challenge, overcome every obstacle and upheaval, and build stronger operations through every unexpected test fills me with the utmost confidence in the future of our business in China. In the coming decades, Starbucks will keep investing in you and in China. I promise you, our best days are ahead.

Please know that I cannot wait to see you in China again soon, and I will take the first opportunity to do so. In the meantime, as the Lunar New Year approaches, please accept my best wishes for a joyful reunion with your families and a healthy, prosperous Year of the Rabbit.

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