Starbucks Coffee Company

Quantifying and Reducing Ingredient Waste

Starbucks is committed to continuously improving its operational efficiency, focusing on both sustainability and cost management. One key area for improvement is the reduction of ingredient waste associated with the preparation of beverages and food items in stores. Waste from overuse, spillage, and customization errors not only increases operational costs but also has environmental and supply chain implications. The student team will work to develop a data-driven model that tracks and quantifies ingredient waste across stores. By analyzing patterns of overuse, spillage, and customization errors, the team aims to identify key contributors to waste and opportunities for improvement. Leveraging historical sales data, store-level ingredient usage reports, and data the student team collects at the Starbucks TRYER Center, this student team will work to create actionable insights to help Starbucks optimize ingredient management. The outcomes this student team are working to achieve are to propose strategies for reducing waste, improving sustainability, and enhancing cost efficiency, all while maintaining the high standards of customer satisfaction Starbucks is known for.