Starbucks cuts 13 drinks from menu during reconstruction
Starbucks will cut 13 drinks from its menu, streamline operations, improve services, and expect more cuts in the coming months.
Straight Arrow News
For the past 15 weeks, Cali Hegeman’s life has revolved around coffee.
Every day, the 22-year-old Starbucks barista creates lattes and mochas on the Chicago Reserve Roastery. During her break, she reads coffee books and listens to coffee podcasts and combs via YouTube for coffee recipes.
It’s all part of her training for the first Starbucks Global Barista Championship, a three-day event to be held in Las Vegas on June 9th.
Hegemann is set to compete with 11 other baristas around the world. Each introduces the classic morning talent and knowledge through blind coffee tasting, latte art, storytelling, store rush simulations and unique signature beverages.
The contest will showcase the winners of the Starbucks Regional and Reserve Roaster Championship, featuring over 84,000 baristas. Starbucks has nominated one champion for each of the six regions (North America, China, Japan, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Caribbean, Middle East and Africa) (North America, China, Japan, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Caribbean, Africa), and one champion for each roaster islands (Seattle, Chicago, New York, Shanghai, Tokyo, Milan).
Hegeman was selected as champion in the Chicago Reserve Roaster last year after competing in front of a crowd full of friends and family with signs such as “Rally for Cali” and “You can brew it.” Now, she works with her assigned trainers for four hours each week to prepare for Las Vegas, complete the latte art, and write scripts for the storytelling challenge.
Hegeman said he will add daily assignments to his regular shift times, including adding latte art to all his tall orders.
“One thing I really miss is the longevity of coffee. I’ve been a partner for over two years, so I definitely felt the pressure,” she told USA Today. “My roommate thinks I’m crazy, but maybe over 200 hours (which is spent on training). That’s a lot.”
The contests that will take place during the Starbucks Leadership Experience Conference will be streamed live on YouTube starting June 9th. The winner will be named on June 11th, with the final four baristas competing in front of an audience of 14,000 Starbucks employees from 7:30am.
