Coffee delivery is now a $1 billion business for Starbucks
A close-up of a Starbucks-branded paper bag sitting on a picnic table outdoors in a park in Walnut Creek, California, May 19, 2024.
Smith Collection/gado | Archive Photos | Getty Images
Coffee delivery has turned into a $1 billion business Starbucks.
The coffee giant said Wednesday that its annual delivery sales passed the milestone in fiscal 2025, which ended Sept. 30. Delivery sales rose nearly 30% in the company’s fiscal fourth quarter compared with a year earlier, executives said.
The growth of Starbucks’ delivery initiative comes as the company’s broader U.S. business begins a turnaround. Starbucks reported flat U.S. same-store sales in its fiscal fourth quarter; This reversed declines in domestic same-store sales over the previous seven quarters as customers made their coffee at home or defected to competitors.
The coffee giant began testing delivery about a decade ago, but Starbucks has been slower to do so than many other restaurant companies. Nationwide delivery became possible from: Uber’s Food in 2020 Door Indicator in 2023 and Grubhub last year. Today, the vast majority of the coffee chain’s company-operated U.S. cafes offer delivery.
U.S. consumers have been slower to embrace coffee delivery than other markets, such as China. In Starbucks’ local market, drive-thru lanes and mobile ordering options offer similar conveniences without the delivery fee.
Perhaps to justify the higher cost, the typical Starbucks delivery order is nearly twice the size of an in-store transaction, according to the company. More than 40% of the chain’s delivery orders include food.
While overall restaurant spending has slowed as consumers face higher costs, food delivery sales have not seen the same decline. Discounts and promotions have helped third-party apps retain customers, along with moves into new categories like alcohol and grocery delivery.
