Nicholas Stevens
J452
Kelli Matthews
20 February 2012
Shareholder Letter for Annual Report
Starbucks Corporation
Dear Shareholders,
The Starbucks Coffee Company has seen major success in the growth of the company in the
2011 fiscal year. In addition to celebrating our 40th anniversary, the company succeeded in
delivering the highest level of service to our customers, employees and shareholders. For the
year 2011, Starbucks reported the highest annual revenue in the company history, with a net
income of $11.7 billion.
Our revenue is up $1 billion from 2010. This was accomplished due to our stores that reached an
8 percent comparable sales growth, which was up 1 percent from 2010. I must say that 2011 was
a big year for our enterprise.
Starbucks Coffee Company is committed to our company mission. We stand to succeed in
providing more than just great coffee and service, but believe in building a strong enduring
business. We are a corporation that empowers a balance between profitability and establishing a
social conscious with our communities. This could not be achieved without the help of our
shareholders and investors.
Starbucks provided a global month of service with more than 156,000 hours of community
service provided to 60,000 people spanning across 30 different countries across the world. Our
volunteering help achieve 1,400 community-service projects that have helped the communities in
which we do business.
In addition to our service hours, we are proud to announce are establishing of a Japan Earthquake
Relief Fund as well as a Starbucks Cup Fund in Japan. Our company joined with the American
Red Cross for ongoing relief of U.S. communities experiencing natural disasters.
We are proud to announce that new products in our store have continued to generate excitement
in addition to our growth in sales. First off, our personalized Frappuccino blended beverages
launched across the globe and we introduced Starbucks Blonde Roast in the United States,
providing a light roast coffee that represents another $1 billion opportunity for the company. In
food, we answered consumers’ desire for more choices with wholesome ingredients by
introducing our Bistro Box platform, and the response has been strong.
The Starbucks loyalty program continues to distinguish from other competitors, with
participation in My Starbucks Rewards now reaching more than 3.6 million active members. Our
company is proud to announce that $20 million mobile payments were made at Starbucks stores
in the 2011 fiscal year.
Our loyalty program was accomplished hugely by our popular Starbucks Card Apps, which
fueled another six million by December’s end with the use of Android and iPhone. This reflects
our ability to respond to the constantly changing marketplace in ways that strengthen our
connections with customers.
Besides our famous logo being green, Starbucks is proud to announce our earth friendly “green”
initiatives. We took green advantages of building our new stores with LEED green building
standards. Seattle’s Best Coffee introduced coffee-aisle game changer with a new “level” system
for packaged coffee that is recognized by EPA as one of the Top 5 Green Power Purchasers in
the U.S. Advanced recycling initiatives took the stage to help reduce our waste.
We added approximately 3,700 net new jobs last year, and plan another 12,500 globally for 2012.
But we can do more. Our company launched Create Jobs for USA that allows our customers the
opportunity to donate toward restarting the nation’s jobs engine through loans to community
businesses. In addition to $5 million seeded by The Starbucks Foundation, approximately $2
million has been raised in the first two months and loans have begun flowing to small companies
and community businesses across the country.
With our advantage for ethical sourcing, environmental and volunteer efforts, the Create Jobs for
USA initiative is right for Starbucks because it authentically reflects the times we live in while
being relevant to our brand.
With all our success in 2011, Starbucks returned approximately $945 million to shareholders
through share repurchases and dividends, more than doubling amount returned last year. Fiscal
2011 was a remarkable year for Starbucks.
Starbucks believes in emphasizing our coffee across the world by creatively enhancing the food
and beverage experience for our customers and furthering ourselves to be a “green” corporation.
I also thank our shareholders, for yet another year of believing in us. Starbucks future has seen
major success this last year. Our foundation and mission to our customers, employees and
communities has never been more concrete. We are remarkably well positioned to pursue and
succeed in growing our company in the year 2012.
Sincerely yours,
Howard Schultz
Chairman, President and C.E.O
Starbucks Coffee Company