The struggling coffee chain has tapped Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol to be its new chairman and CEO, effective September 9. Starbucks’ stock soared more than 13% in premarket trading, while Chipotle’s dipped 8%.

Niccol has been leading the Mexican-inspired food chain since 2018, with Starbucks saying he has set “new standards in the industry and driven significant growth and value creation,” pointing to its revenue growing nearly 800% during his tenure.

    • frezik@midwest.social
      2·
      29 days ago

      It’s strange how the Internet turned on Chipolte. When they were first expanding, everyone raved about how great they were. Then there’s a few very public food safety issues, which certainly doesn’t put them in a good light. They didn’t make any particular changes to their recipes AFAIK due to that. If you thought they were tasty before, then that opinion should be the same now even if you avoid them due to untrustworthy food safety.

      I dunno; the Mexican fried rice they use tends to sit heavy in my stomach, so I avoid them, anyway.

      • the_crotch@sh.itjust.works
        1·
        29 days ago

        Moe’s Southwest grill is exactly the same as chipotle but their food is higher quality and they give you free nachos

    • corsicanguppy@lemmy.caEnglish
      3·
      29 days ago
      1. Caffeine is addictive,
      2. sugar gives you the zoomies, and
      3. frothy milk is delicious.

      That’s the coffee part handled, anyway. The only improvement would be allow for alcohol, I think, as I’m really sure an irish coffee all day would improve my morning commute – the bus driver would be so much more relaxed!

  • Tilgare@lemmy.world
    15·
    30 days ago

    Strange that I am in active boycott of two restaurants, and it happens to be both of these places. Not for anything high minded - they both discontinued their chorizo offerings, the only thing I liked on either of their menus. Happened 7 or 8 years ago now, and I won’t go back.

  • Rhaedas@fedia.io
    3·
    1 month ago

    Was the revenue growth because of his guidance, or despite it? The boom of pickup and delivery in the past few years for places like Chipotle couldn’t have hurt. I haven’t been in one of their places recently without wondering how they’re staying in business, or why people keep coming back. That’s true of a lot of fast food places though…Carlin was right, we love to eat. Anything.

  • breadsmasher@lemmy.worldEnglish
    342·
    1 month ago

    I prefer just black coffee. No milk, sugar.

    Out of all chain coffee places (in the UK, so costa/nero etc), starbucks has the worst tasting coffee

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
      3·
      1 month ago

      Their coffee in the U.S. is the worst too IMO, aside from the occasional awful gas station coffee and I wouldn’t be shocked if they were buying Starbucks roast since they also sell it in bags in supermarkets. But, of course, it’s like McDonald’s- no matter where you go, you know what it will taste like. So people rely on it.

      I avoid it as much as I possibly can (it doesn’t help that I used to work on a show in L.A. that was partially sponsored by Starbucks and it was that or our other sponsor, Red Bull, if I wanted caffeine while working). The only times I go when I’m not traveling and have to make a caffeine pit stop and there are no other options is when all the other local coffee places are already closed since they all close earlier than Starbucks and I want to sit somewhere not at home to do something.

      Other than that, I always go local. And here, a lot of the local places have drive-throughs, so even that convenience Starbucks offers is unnecessary. They’re usually cheaper than Starbucks too. And, of course, better coffee.

      • Bone@lemmy.world
        1·
        1 month ago

        Their coffee might be bad but people like them for their other drinks, or fancy coffees.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
          2·
          1 month ago

          That’s what I hear, but I’d rather go to a local place. I always try to support local businesses over chains when possible. Even if it’s just a place I’m visiting, I’d rather support their local coffee chain than put more money in McDonald’s or Starbucks coffee. And I’ve discovered a lot of really nice places to hang out that way.

          • Nougat@fedia.io
            3·
            1 month ago

            I wholly agree, but if you’re not in a headspace where you’re able to “deal with” searching out a local shop in a new area, and just need something good and predictable wherever you are, McD’s coffee definitely fulfills that need.

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
              2·
              1 month ago

              That does make sense. Especially when traveling on an interstate and you just need a pit stop. I might do that instead of Starbucks in those situations from now on. Thanks!

    • count_dongulus@lemmy.world
      41·
      1 month ago

      McDonald’s has better tasting coffee than Starbucks since they swiped Tim Horton’s vendor a few years ago.

    • InquisitiveApathy@lemm.eeEnglish
      26·
      1 month ago

      As someone who also only drinks black coffee I agree. Their signature taste is literally burnt because of the way they roast their beans. It’s terrible.

        • Wahots@pawb.social
          3·
          30 days ago

          Same thing goes for tea. Lipton is super bitter. Imported teas from london don’t get bitter regardless of how long they are steeped. They actually taste and smell galaxies different than that “generic bitter tea smell” that much of the world is conditioned to.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
            2·
            30 days ago

            As the son of a Londoner (but in the U.S.), I agree 100%. That said, I’ve switched to Irish teas because they’re stronger.

    • kata1yst@sh.itjust.works
      20·
      1 month ago

      Yes, true of most any national/international chain.

      It’s because they value large volume, year round availability, and high consistency from their beans and roasts, so that no matter what location you go to it tastes exactly the same.

      To do that, they select and blend several bland varieties of coffee bean, put them through an aggressive industrial cleaning and drying (which reduces the natural fruity and funky flavors but minimizes costs) then roast them in huge batches to several steps past where a normal roaster would stop for a given roast (a darker roast gets rid of more of the unique flavors of the coffee cherry and brings out more uniform roast flavors instead).

      Again, not something exclusive to Starbucks at all, and plenty of small coffee shops don’t bother with the hassle and just buy cheap bulk coffee pre-roasted by large scale operations and will have similar results.

      But man, when you get coffee made in small batches, with natural processing or even fermentation and gently roasted… It’s an entirely different experience.

      • count_dongulus@lemmy.world
        21·
        1 month ago

        Any time you blend beans from different places together, you get a bland coffee. I don’t think any mega size coffee shop can ever beat locals just because scale demands won’t allow non-blended beans in the supply chain.

      • barsquid@lemmy.world
        61·
        1 month ago

        It’s just weird that any chain would opt for consistently awful instead of just settling for slight variations. It’s also weird that people still buy it despite the fact it is objectively and consistently bad.

        • Bone@lemmy.world
          3·
          1 month ago

          I don’t mean any offense but it sounds like that’s what you’re missing. People don’t seem to value taste as their number 1 concern. Probably convenience of some kind (or the fact that they are everywhere). Sounds like SB is having trouble at the moment, but they’ve had the same shitty coffee for forever and they’ve done alright previously.

        • phdepressed@sh.itjust.works
          6·
          1 month ago

          People who are going to Starbucks often aren’t drinking black coffee. They get some sugar, cream, and flavor combo such that the coffee is barely noticeable. It is coffee for people who don’t like coffee.

        • lolcatnip@reddthat.comEnglish
          3·
          1 month ago

          People tend to value consistency of flavors a lot more than you seem to realize. Having something taste exactly how you expect it to is very comforting even if the taste isn’t that good. That’s basically the whole reason McDonald’s stays in business.

    • SeaJ@lemm.ee
      3·
      1 month ago

      In the US, it is mediocre. I wouldn’t say it is terrible and if I am in a different city that lacks local shops, I’ll get it. But it is definitely not my first or even 10th choice. And no, the light and medium blends do taste burnt like everyone and their mother thinks it is cool to say. Those people are almost certainly getting dark roast.

      Luckily I live in Seattle and have no issue finding good roasters and cafés that are not anti union.

      • lolcatnip@reddthat.comEnglish
        1·
        1 month ago

        I’ve enjoyed many a cup of Starbucks coffee in the past, but I’ve also tasted Starbucks side-by-side with fancy coffees, and it doesn’t even taste like coffee in that context, more like water that has had charred wood steeped in it. I think it must have gotten worse over time.

        The lighter roasts may be better by the standards of lighter roasts, but I much prefer darker roasts, so I want them done right. Fortunately I also live in Seattle.

  • CaptDust@sh.itjust.works
    90·
    1 month ago

    This dude ruined chipotle in so many ways. Cutting serving sizes, using lower quality ingredients, reducing employee count and training quality, just letting everything slip. He took that chain from one of the most reliable to somewhere I refuse to set foot in.

    But line went up, clearly he’s a genius, fail into the next role!

    • count_dongulus@lemmy.world
      816·
      1 month ago

      I agree with all those points except the serving size one. I remember reading recently that the CEO was upset about some locations skimping after people complained and sent corpos out to retrain them.

      • CaptDust@sh.itjust.works
        11·
        1 month ago

        Doesn’t seem like that training stuck, at least as of June it’s still wildly inconsistent.

        I don’t have empirical data, but I do know in 2016/17 at the height of my chipotle addiction I could get a bowl for lunch, be filled, and have enough left over for a late night snack. Last time I was there it was all “are you asking for double protein? that’ll be extra”

      • GBU_28@lemm.eeEnglish
        31·
        1 month ago

        None of it matters if they don’t train them to wrap the burritos well

  • pulaskiwasright@lemmy.mlEnglish
    4·
    30 days ago

    I’m don’t understand how they can have a level of food that is so trash that even subway is better. McDonald’s is better. The frozen aisle at the supermarket is better. I don’t know how they managed to be so bad.

    • skuzz@discuss.tchncs.de
      3·
      29 days ago

      Just make coffee at home before you leave. 10 minutes versus however long the coffee shop trip costs in time and money. Even faster if you get a basic coffeemaker that has a clock that can be set to start up automatically.

      Coffee shops are overpriced for the mediocrity.

      • Jimmycakes@lemmy.world
        4·
        29 days ago

        Ok but I don’t have any teenagers at home who will make whatever they want instead of what I ordered and take 20 minutes to do it.

      • fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.comEnglish
        2·
        29 days ago

        While I agree, part of it is the experience. Some people want to spend time away from home, and for many families that is a way to buy one drink and get alone time or a place to sit with friends for a while. Sometimes it’s also the skill in the drink itself (not Starbucks, though). So in those cases, drink local.

    • corsicanguppy@lemmy.caEnglish
      18·
      29 days ago

      Yes. This way, the local guy I’ll never know, who employs dozens of local people, will get his profits; instead of a remote guy I’ll never know, who employs dozens of local people. Help me understand which stranger is more worthy, then, based on the zip code of their house?

      • fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.comEnglish
        1·
        29 days ago

        Have you been to local shops? Usually local owners participate in the business, we see ours roasting all the time. The last place we went when traveling was opened right next to the AT by a hiker who runs it by herself with a friend.

        If you haven’t met the owner, you probably haven’t tried to. But my guess is, you don’t go there anyway out of some weird spite.

      • WelcomeBear@lemmy.world
        6·
        29 days ago

        1. There are plenty of tiny coffee places (and other small businesses) near me where the owner is there all day, every day with just one or two employees. You’ll get to know them if you want to. You might also bump into them around town. If they suck, patronize a different place.

        2. Theoretically, most of the money that I spend there stays in town, helping to keep other businesses and families going. They probably sponsor the local animal shelter or little league team. I like that.

        3. I’ve worked in small businesses and corporate America. In my experience corporate America always sucks, small business only sometimes suck. I don’t like supporting large corporations and especially not their admin and C-suite. Those vampires are why the wealth gap is growing so quickly.

        4. Corporate food is boring.

        5. Some people argue that all of the transportation involved in moving around product and people for multi-national corporations is worse for the environment. I don’t care about that personally but it seems like a reasonable conclusion.