Starbucks, the world’s most well known coffee franchise, has decided to bring in the new year with a new concept for the drive thru and counter service by finally allowing customers to order drinks in their personal cups.
Starbucks has introduced this to all of its locations on January 3, 2024 in hopes to reduce waste by 50% by 2030, according to Starbucks website. Additionally, according to Business Insider, over 2/3 of customers order through the drive thru, so creating a system that effectively allows those customers to use personal cups creates a more dramatic amount of change in the movement to reduce waste.
They are the first franchise to do this, so I am confident that this movement will catch on in many other franchises this coming year and make a huge impact on the amount of waste that is produced within fast food franchises.
As I read more into this personal cup movement at Starbucks, I wondered how efficient it would be if I ordered in the drive thru and wanted to use my personal cup. I thought about how they would be able to make my drink without my cup; would I have to hand it to them at the window and then wait for them to make the drink on the spot? That would make the already long lines even slower. How would they know what size to make me? Is it even sanitary? So, to see this change in person, and answer all my questions, I put it to the test and tried it out for myself.
I ordered at the drive thru intercom and immediately informed the barista that I had brought my personal cup with me. One thing I was curious about was how he would know what size to make me. I found that by telling him the size of my cup he could estimate the size drink that would fit best into it. I told him that my cup was 20 ounces and he said that he would make me a grande coffee.
When I finished ordering, 10 cents was taken off of my order because I brought my own cup, and I also received a 25 star bonus on the app. This was a pleasant surprise that adds incentive to bringing a personal cup.
Once I reached the window, I paid for my order and then held my cup out to the service window. I was wondering what the contactless vessel would look like, and was surprised to see a clear pitcher filled with my drink. The barista hovered the spout of the pitcher over my personal cup and transferred the drink. This kept the interaction quick and sanitary.
The whole service went smoothly and effortlessly despite the recent roll out. I was surprised and excited that I can save money on my order, and also save plastic cups and straws. This new personal cup system is easy to take advantage of and works symbiotically between you and Starbucks. You get money off and extra stars, and Starbucks reduces waste.
Bravo Starbucks! I can confidently say that they executed this new service extremely well. They created incentives to save plastic, they trained staff to perform the service confidently, and they made it more accessible to the public by implementing it into the drive thru.
