Key takeaways
- Operations are among the biggest sources of emissions for fast-food restaurants.
- The Greener Stores framework outlines 25 practices store managers can use to reduce energy and water consumption, and minimize packaging and food waste.
- Starbucks focused first on new locations, but existing cafes are encouraged to embrace Greener Stores habits.
Starbucks has verified 9,400 cafes for meeting strict requirements related to energy efficiency, waste diversion and water stewardship.
That’s more than double what it reported in 2024 and just shy of the 10,000 locations it aims to certify by the end of 2025, the coffee chain said in an April 22 update.
Starbucks manages close to 40,200 retail locations globally, so roughly one-quarter of its locations are now certified. It introduced the Greener Stores initiative in 2018, and saves an average of $60 million annually in operating costs as a result. That’s due to the 30 percent average reductions in energy and water consumption that these stores report.
Starbucks is one of several high-profile fast-food restaurant chains encouraging waste, energy and water efficiency to help curb emissions. KFC, for example, builds certain requirements into franchise agreements. Scope 3 emissions tied to these locations are among the biggest contributors to these companies’ carbon footprint.
Starbucks’ Greener Stores framework, which it developed in collaboration with World Wildlife Fund, covers 25 practices that define the construction and operation of new cafes and retrofits of existing locations.
Examples of measures that count toward certification include sourcing electricity from solar, wind or other clean power sources; using energy-efficient equipment such as refrigerators with low global warming-potential coolants; and embracing initiatives for diverting packaging and food waste.
Starbucks stores can also get credit for adding renewable energy installations, such as solar panels, or for investments that support electrification, including electric vehicle charging stations.
In the U.S., Starbucks is pushing for the installation of more than 100 direct current systems that speed charging, starting with a corridor between northern California and Washington state that it described as a charging desert. It has so far installed 34 units in collaboration with Mercedes-Benz, according to the April 22 update.
