Starbucks said it doesn’t share what percentage of its sales are attributable to customers under 18, but the menu is increasingly catering to Gen Z. Cold drinks, which are generally favored by younger customers, according to Starbucks, have consistently accounted for about 70% of the chain’s beverage sales for at least the last three years. “The younger you go, the colder the beverage,” then-Chief Marketing Officer Brady Brewer said in 2022 of the larger industry trend (he’s now the company’s head of international).
When Laxman Narasimhan, a former management consultant and consumer packaged goods executive, replaced Schultz in early 2023, he went all-in on beverage innovation. He sped up the pipeline for new products, launching one in only three months, compared with the usual 12 to 18 months…. Earlier this year, Narasimhan pledged more product launches “squarely aimed at our Gen Z and millennial customers.” Months later, an 8-year-old in Ohio made headlines for driving herself to Target, where police let her finish her Frappuccino.
