Starbucks is now allowing customers to use their own clean, reusable cups across all company-operated and participating licensed Starbucks stores across the United States and Canada.
The move unlocks the potential for reducing waste and helping Starbucks meet its goal of reducing waste by 50% by 2030. Customers can use their own cups when ordering in a cafe, in the drive-through, or when ordering ahead with the Starbucks app.
According to Starbucks, it is the first national coffee chain in the United States to offer customers the ability to use their own cups when mobile ordering. The company is capitalizing on current consumer trends away from single-use plastics and towards reusables.
"As we know, the most sustainable cup is likely the one you already own. Bringing your own cup to stores is a critical step toward reducing single-use packaging waste,” Kate Daly, managing director and head of the Center for the Circular Economy at Closed Loop Partners, said in a statement. “Starbucks is a leader in this work, as the first national retailer of scale to offer personal cup ordering in every channel, including mobile order.”
Customers who want to use their personal cups tell the barista when they order and hand over their cups to the barista. They will receive a $0.10 discount on their beverage, and Starbucks Rewards members in the U.S. will receive 25 bonus stars. Customers who don’t have their own cups and choose to sit in the store can also request a reusable ceramic or glass cup at most stores.
Similarly, customers wanting to use their own cups in the drive-thru tell the barista and hand their cups over for their order without the lid using a contactless vessel to ensure hygiene and safety. When ordering via the app, customers hit the customization button and select “personal cup” before continuing to order. When they get to the store, they hand over their clean, personal cup to the barista in the pickup area, and the beverage is handed back in a contactless vessel.
The move to allowing personal cups was expanded after Starbucks conducted a personal cup test at 200 drive-thru stores in Colorado last spring, with partners helping co-design the custom reusable cup smallware all stores will now use to transfer orders to personal cups. Starbucks said it has conducted more than 20 reusables tests in stores around the world in recent years and plans to do more.
“As long as we are following all our procedures and steps, it doesn’t add any more time, and it is actually making customers happier,” said Brook, a partner who worked at a store that participated in the Colorado test. “This has been a really big hit.”
