What does coffee certified mean for Starbucks Greener Store locations?

North China's first Starbucks Greener Store opened in Beijing at the CITIC Prudential location, extending a certification system already used in Shanghai, Suzhou and Shenzhen. Customers buying a handcrafted beverage can pay 15 yuan for a reusable to-go cup, or receive a 4 yuan discount for bringing their own. Starbucks aims to build or renovate 10,000 certified stores worldwide by 2025.

The certification launched in 2018 and was developed jointly with WWF. Stores must meet eight standards covering energy conservation, water consumption and waste disposal to earn it. The Beijing opening shows the framework moving beyond East and South China into a new market, though competition from local coffee newcomers raises questions about how far the green format leads.

In 2021, Starbucks celebrated its 50th anniversary and announced the expansion of its environmentally friendly store framework, accelerating the global rollout of its "Greener Stores." This green store format left North America for the first time, choosing Shanghai as its first location, and subsequently expanded to Suzhou, Shenzhen, and other cities. Recently, North China also welcomed its first green-certified store—Starbucks Beijing CITIC Prudential Store. When customers purchase handcrafted beverages in the store, they can get a reusable to-go cup for an additional 15 yuan, or enjoy a 4 yuan discount if they bring their own cup. This certification system was jointly initiated by Starbucks and WWF in 2018, covering eight major standards including energy conservation, water consumption, and waste disposal, with the goal of building or renovating 10,000 green stores globally by 2025. However, in the face of the rise of local coffee newcomers, whether Starbucks' green strategy can continue to lead is worth watching.

In 2021, while celebrating the brand's 50th anniversary, Starbucks announced plans to expand its "green, environmentally friendly, low-emission" store framework and accelerate the global rollout of its "Greener Stores." Starbucks brought this type of store outside North America for the first time, choosing Shanghai—the city with the most intense competition in China's coffee market—as its first stop.

Since then, offline green stores have appeared in cities such as Suzhou and Shenzhen. Recently, North China's first green-certified store—Starbucks Beijing CITIC Prudential Store—officially opened its doors. This means that after covering the East China and South China markets, Starbucks' "Green Store" certification system has officially entered the North China market, and new environmentally focused stores will also be rolled out across North China. The first Greener Store in North China is consistent with other stores in China: when customers purchase any handcrafted beverage, they can exchange an additional 15 yuan for a reusable to-go cup, or enjoy a 4 yuan discount if they bring their own cup.

The "Green Store" certification system was released in 2018 and was jointly developed by Starbucks and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Starbucks' Greener Stores must meet eight standards of this system to obtain "Green Store" certification. These standards mainly involve key areas such as energy conservation, water resource management, and waste disposal, specifically including: must use high-efficiency, low-energy appliances; 100% use of mercury-free LED lighting; installation of low-flow faucets; and strict implementation of waste sorting.

Before the opening of the first "Green Store" outside North America, Starbucks already operated more than 2,300 green stores in North America. Next, Starbucks will use the same framework to accelerate the rollout of green stores globally to achieve its goal of establishing and renovating 10,000 "Green Stores" worldwide by 2025. Starbucks also plans to open 60 green-certified offline stores in mainland China over the course of a year, and gradually extend this standard to all newly opened stores as well as upgraded and renovated stores.

However, with the rise of new forces in mainland China's coffee industry, Blue Bottle, known as the "Apple of the coffee world," has opened its first China location in Shanghai; local chain brand SEESAW COFFEE announced on February 28 the completion of an A++ round of financing worth hundreds of millions of yuan; and Luckin Coffee, known as "China's Starbucks," has also regained its vitality. In the face of these changes, how many opportunities can Starbucks' "Green Stores" still win?

Image source: Internet

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.