La Boulange - Launch Discussion Guide - July and August

La Boulange Launch FY13
Discussion Guide
La Boulange Launch Discussion Guide

Store Manager:
Conduct Store training meeting using the agenda below. Meeting can be conducted as a full store meeting or in pod
training.
Schedule additional training for Shift supervisors. Shift supervisor training is included at the end of the store meeting.
Pre-work:
Review Program Guide and all tools in this package
Choose five La Boulange items to sample. Choose at least 1 cookie, croissant and loaf cake. 3 to 4 items will be
sampled when discussing our new product. Thaw enough croissants for baristas to try one at room temperature and
one warmed. To be sampled when discussing Warming.
Assign a shift supervisor the role of warming and serving the samples needed for the meeting.
NOTE: Train assistant store managers, shift supervisors and baristas who missed the meeting by completing the following
training one-on-one.
Topic
Content
Materials Needed
Introduce La
Boulange
Partnership
5 minutes
Provide La Boulange background story and

objective of the partnership between La
Boulange and Starbucks.
La Boulange Program Guide

La Boulange -Product Description Card Ring
Introduce new
product and
sample
20 minutes
Warm and sample 3-4 items.

Discuss the Product description ring and how
to use it to aid in conversations with
customers.
Discuss the Alternate Food Suggestion Job
Aid and how it will be used to help customers
find a new favorite pastry.
Discuss the 3 Principles of La Boulange.
La Boulange-Product Description Card Ring

La Boulange- Alternate Food Suggestion Job
Aid.
La Boulange- Types of Food Learning Card.
Oven
Sample tray
La Boulange Three Principles learning card
NOTE: If you train your entire team in a store meeting, you can complete the next three topics in a
rotation with smaller groups. Assign two partners to lead two of these sections and facilitate one
yourself. If you train using pods, you can train the next three topics sequentially.
Warm-to-Order
8 minutes
Review the Warm to Order default for all

bakery items and what this means to your
store.
Sample a warmed pastry and an ambient
2012 Starbucks Corporation. For internal use only. All rights reserved.
La Boulange-POS and Oven Setting Job Aid

La Boulange- Oven Settings -Starbucks Food
La Boulange Bag IDs
La Boulange- Program Guide
Published May 2013
Discussion Guide
pastry.
Discuss pastry bags and which bag to use for
different types of pastries.
Pastry bags
Setting the case

8 minutes
Review and discuss pastry case set up.

Review consolidated food case schematic- -to
be used later in the day when your food
business slows.
Thaw standard for

Frozen food
8 minutes
Review the thawing standards.

Review thaw times and using the Pastry Pull
Planner.
Discuss food handling and day dotting for all
products

Pastry Pull Planner
Putting it all
together
10 minutes
Skill Practice
Alternate Food Suggestion Job Aid
Conclusion
10 minutes
Review the Launch Time line

Answer questions.
La Boulange- Program Guide
Pastry Case Schematic

Consolidated Pastry Case Schematic
Alternate Food Suggestion Job Aid
La Boulange POS and Oven setting Job Aid
La Boulange- Three Principles Learning Card
La Boulange- Types of Food Learning Card
Total Time: 70 minutes
Additional topics for Shift Supervisors

Topic
Content
Materials Needed
Inventory
Management
10 minutes
Discuss what is changing with the

assortment.
Discuss Food counts
Discuss Case size change
Freezer
preparedness
10 minutes
Review Freezer schematic

Discuss preparing the freezer at night

Pastry Pull Planner
Published May 2013

Discussion Guide
Thaw standard for

Frozen food
10 minutes
Review the thawing standards.

Review thaw times and using the Pastry Pull
Planner.
Discuss food handling and day dotting for all
products

Pastry Pull Planner
Setting the food

case
10 minutes
Review and discuss what changes with food

case set up.
Introduce new food case routine
Pastry Case Schematic

Consolidated Pastry Case Schematic
Warming Standard
10 minutes
Assigning a food partner

Coaching on Warming
Questions
10 minutes
Answer any questions on next steps
Total Time: 60 minutes
Facilitation Steps to Success

Use these tips to help you facilitate a successful store meeting:
Read this discussion guide and all the La Boulange supporting materials (such as Job Aids and Launch Guide) to
familiarize yourself with the content.
Highlight what you want to say. Write personal notes, if applicable.
Identify the things you need to prepare ahead of time.
Gather all of the materials you need for activities, such as supplies, copies of job aids and pens.
Stay on schedule by writing in the clock times for each section of the agenda
Published May 2013
Discussion Guide
Store Meeting Talking Points
Indicators:
Discuss/Talk
Tasks
Introduction to La Boulange Partnership (10 minutes)

Ask: What have you heard so far about La Boulange?
Acknowledge what is being said.
Say: La Boulange and Starbucks are passionate about providing delicious and authentic products to customers. And
we are committed to doing this in a socially responsible way.
Say: (depending on what was not responded earlier) A few things you may not know about La Boulange
o La Boulange is actually French! La Boulange was founded by Pascal RIgo, a French baker from Bordeaux
France in 1999. Pascal still leads all aspects of La Boulange.
o Like Starbucks, La Boulange has an unwavering commitment to sourcing the best ingredients and
carefully, thoughtfully crafting each and every product for our customers.
o Food tasting and testing are a huge part of the La Boulange process. We cant think of a better on-the-job
requirement!
o La Boulange regards its place in the neighborhoods that it serves with just as much importance as the
products and experience it creates inside each bakery caf.
o La Boulange recognizes that simple, wholesome ingredients are important to our customers. Pascal has
developed our new assortment to use authentic, minimal ingredients with less reliance on things like
artificial preservatives.
(If possible) Show the La Boulange video. Access video on the Store Portal>Videos
Say: Today I will share with you this exciting new food platform including the three primary principles of warmth,
generosity and knowledge, so you can share it with our customers.
Introduce the Three Principles of La Boulange (front learning card)
Say: Well discuss each of these principles in detail
Say: Lets start with tasting some of our new pastries.
Introduce La Boulange Products and sample (20 minutes)

Warm three-four different pastries Warm and cut into sampling pieces enough for everyone to taste each of the
selected pastries. Ensure you select a variety of pastries to give partners the full experience.
Ask: If you buy bread in the grocery store, what ingredients can be listed? Answers may vary but be sure to
mention preservatives and artificial /natural flavors and colors.
Say: La Boulange strives to use just a few ingredients that are selected carefully for their taste and way they are
grown and purchased.
Show: the La Boulange- Types of Food Learning Card.
Explain: The types of food we will have moving forward.
Have: the baristas taste the samples and read from the learning card.
Ask: the baristas to think, when they are trying samples, what questions customers may have.
Ask: What questions do you think customers may have?
o Where is my old..
o Why are you changing?
o How do I know if I like it?
Say Our job during these first few weeks is to help our customers find new favorite food items. Generosity is one
of the 3 primary principles of La Boulange. That means sample the pastries with customers today to help them
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Discussion Guide
discover something that they love for tomorrow. We want our customers to feel that we have the same level of
passion and commitment for our food that we show today for our coffee.
Say: We have developed several tools that help you anticipate the customers questions and connect, personalize
and own their experience
Introduce the tools and how to use them
o Product Description Card Ring
o Alternate Food Suggestion Job Aid.
o La Boulange- Three Principles Learning Card.
Say: The Product description Card Ring is a great tool to support you in answering questions about our food.
Each pastry is represented with tasting notes, product descriptions and coffee pairing options. The Product
description Card ring will live on the sales floor near the POS for you to easily access.
Say: The La Boulange Alternate Food Suggestion Job Aid is another tool you have to support you when a
customer is uncertain. This should help you find some Like for Like replacements, but keep in mind we are also
introducing new items and flavors unlike anything we have offered before.
Discuss the following questions with your partners. The goal is to introduce customers to a new favorite food item.
What did you think of the pastries you just sampled?
How would you describe the pastries you just sampled?
What questions do you think your customers will have about the food?
Using the Alternate Food Suggestion Job Aid, how will you connect with a customer who is missing their
favorite muffin?
Say: Weve discussed Generosity as the first principle of La Boulange; lets talk about the other principles.
Show: The La Boulange Three Principles Learning Card.
Ask: if someone will read each of the Principles. .
Discuss: Side B of the Learning card with your partners.
Say: I hope the food you tasted has you excited to learn more. Now lets discuss what else is changing.
Next you are going to do three rotations if you are training your entire team. Train concurrently if conducting in training
pods. Each rotation requires a trainer that you to assign before the meeting. Trainers can be shift supervisors or
assistant managers. Keep an eye on time, switch rotation after 8 minutes.
Warm-to-order (8 minutes)
Say: Lets talk about Warmth in more detail.

Sample 2 croissants- 1 warmed and 1 ambient.
Ask the following questions to your baristas.
How would you compare the 2 croissants you just tried?
Say: when you warm the croissants it Wakes Up the butter. We will no longer ask if a customer wants a pastry
warmed, well automatically default to warming.
Pass The La Boulange POS and Oven Setting Job Aid and La Boulange Bag IDs.
Say We will have a partner assigned every morning to support our peak period. That person handles all warming
for both caf and Drive thru. The POS and Oven Setting Job Aid and the La Boulange Bag IDs will be posted near
the oven to support the warming routine. Pastry bags will be marked with the correct pastry codes and handed off
to the partner.
Say We have re-programmed the oven to the new La Boulange settings so that you can begin to sample product
now and try it as it is meant to be served. Temporarily from now until our launch day, you will need to use the La
Boulange settings when heating our current Starbucks food.
Show La Boulange Oven Setting- Starbucks Food.
Say this tool will support you over the next few days before we launch La Boulange. The Bagel setting and the
Breakfast sandwich setting does not change with the new program. We will not heat cake pops, petite Vanilla
Scones or donuts.
Show the two new pastry bags
Say these are the two new bags we have to be used with our food.
Published May 2013
Discussion Guide
White insulated warming bag- use for warmed savory croissants, breakfast sandwiches, wraps and the
Croissant hotdog.
o Pink pastry bag- use for all other warmed pastries
Say We will no longer tape down our pastry bags. Taping down the bag causes steam to build up in the bag and
could result in our croissants losing their flakiness.
Setting the Pastry Case (8 minutes)

Say: Now lets take a look at how the pastry case is changing.
Pass the new Pastry Case Schematic
Ask: What do you notice right away about the pastry case? Answers could be: Color change, no trays, signage,
mix of Starbucks food and La Boulange food, etc.
Say: Select Starbucks items will still be served including most breakfast sandwiches, bagels, old fashioned
donuts, pretzels, cake pops and some seasonal items. Some items in your case will be set directly on new La
Boulange shelf liner paper and not on plates or trays. This food case schematic will be available to help you set up
the pastry case each day.
Do: Quick fun activity using the La Boulange Alternate Food Suggestion Job Aid. Partners can do this activity in
pairs. One partner names a current food item that will be replaced. The other partner needs to figure out what
the replacement item should be using the Job Aid. The duos need to complete 5 items.
Thaw standards for frozen food (8 minutes)

Ask: delicious recipes, warmed food and strong visual displays will improve the customer experience. What else
will impact the quality of the food? Answer: following proper thaw standards! Great recipes and warmed pastries
will have no effect on the customer if the quality of the food is impacted due to poor freezer and thaw standards.
Similar to how quality of coffee is affected by inappropriate storage and exposure to air and moisture.
Say: To ensure the highest quality product all Pastries will be sent as frozen deliveries. Pull products after 4pm for
use the following day.
`Show: The Pastry Pull Planner
Say: The Pastry Pull Planner will hang on the freezer and shows thaw times and thaw locations. Shift supervisors
will receive further training on thaw standards and will cascade that information to select baristas. The cartons are
color coded by category and match up to the color coding on the Pastry Pull Planner.
Some of the critical things for everyone to know;
o
o
o
o
o
All savory croissants must be thawed in the refrigerator following the same procedure as your breakfast
sandwiches.
All 2 day items including savories must be day dotted.
Day dot indicates end of day markout. Ex. Pull to thaw rack on Monday evening, label with Wednesday
end of day markout.
No items may be re-frozen after thawed.
Breakfast sandwiches and lunch items will continue to be delivered as they are today.
Putting it all Together (10 minutes)

Ask: partners to work in pairs
Ask partners to do a skill practice in which:
o One partner is the customer
o One partner is the barista.
Say: Practice a couple of scenarios using customer service behaviors and service basics.
Scenario 1
o Help a customer find a pastry. Describe the pastry to the customer.
o Pick the correct bag and write food item code on the bag.
Scenario 2
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Published May 2013


o
o
Discussion Guide
A customer is upset their old favorite leaving. Help them find a new one.
Find out what the oven setting should be.
Conclusion (10 minutes)

Say: Knowledge is our last primary principle.
Ask: We started this meeting with the objective of learning more about this new food platform and understanding
what it means to the way we do business. Do you feel more knowledgeable? If the answer is no, ask questions to
understand what is unclear and review again.
Say: Share your passion by being knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the food with our customers. If you
dont know the answer to something, use the tools available to you or ask your store manager or shift supervisor.
If we dont know the answer, we will find it!
Thank the team for their participation. Re-iterate the importance of their role in:
Generosity- taste the food and share it with the customer.
Warmth- the pastries are best when served warm.
Knowledge- know where to find the tools you need to be an expert.
Ask: What question do you have?
Additional Topics for Shift Supervisors
Inventory Management (10 minutes)

Say: with the launch of La Boulange we are gaining some delicious new products and keeping some of our old
favorites. Bagels, Donuts, Cake Pops, Pretzels, Petite Vanilla Scones and Breakfast sandwiches stay in our
inventory. These items will transition to frozen. Breakfast sandwiches and lunch items which will continue to be
delivered as they are today. The case pack size on some these items have changed which will affect how many
are ordered.
Discuss: The order delivery guide at the back of the La Boulange Program guide. Review the change of case
pack size for all current Starbucks food.
Say: We will now order product three days before sales are needed to count for the extra day needed for thawing.
Say: As always, accurate on-hand quantities are important to create accurate SOQs. The Tuesday night food
count will now include counting the freezer. Failure to count the freezer could result in receiving more product
than we need and or will fit into the freezer resulting in wasted product and additional cost.
Freezer Preparedness (10 minutes)

Say: It is critical that freezers are prepared for delivery. If delivery is made while the store is open, the partners are
responsible for putting away the product. If delivery is made while the store is closed, the driver will put away the
product. If the freezer does not have room for the incoming cartridges, the driver will leave them sitting out in the
store and the store will need to mark out the product when they arrive the next morning.
Show La Boulange- Freezer Schematic Job Aid
Say: Lets take a look at the La Boulange - Freezer Schematic Job Aid and how you will use it. This tool will be
posted on the freezer as a reference for all partners.
Say: the Shift supervisor or manager who places the daily food order is responsible for communicating to the
closing Shift supervisor or manager how many cartridges of food will be arrive to the store.
Show: The La Boulange Pastry Pull planner
Published May 2013
Discussion Guide
Say: On the top of the La Boulange Pastry Pull Planner, you will write in the incoming cartridges. The closing shift
or manager will then be responsible for making room for those cartridges. Cartridges come in 3 different sizes,
Regular, Tall and Half size. Sizes are called out on the Order and Delivery Grid in the Program guide.
Ask: how do you think you will make room for incoming cartridges? Answers may be: Pull product to thaw for
the next day therefore creating space, consolidate open cartridges into one to create space or move cartridges to
the top of the freezer creating space on the bottom.
Ask: what questions or concerns do you have regarding freezers?
Thaw standards for frozen food (10 minutes)

Say: The closing team is responsible for pulling product for the next days business. Product pulled after 4pm
should be day dotted following the standards outlined in the La Boulange Program guide and placed on the thaw
rack to be used the next day.
Discuss the Thaw standard and thaw routine outlined in the La Boulange Program guide.
Say: Product may be pulled throughout the day to meet unplanned sales demand as required.
Show: The Pastry Pull Planner
Discuss the Pastry Pull Planner and how you will use it to make decisions on thawing. .
Setting the Pastry Case (10 minutes)

Say: Lets take a look at the Pastry case set up in more detail.
Discuss the Pastry Case Schematic and the Pastry Case Tips provided.
Say: The Pastry Case is an important visual tool we have to help sell La Boulange products to customers. If the
pastry case is not appealing, customers will not make the decision to purchase. What concerns to you have with
keeping the case full and appealing?
Warmth (10 minutes)

Say: Warmth is a primary Principle of La Boulange. The items are designed to be served warmed. It wakes up the
butter and allows the customer to experience the highest quality pastry available.
Say: We will assign a partner every morning to support your peak period. This partner will be responsible for the
warming of all items for both caf and drive thru. Lets review the warming routine
Discuss the Warming routine
Say: Partners should no longer ask a customer if they would like their pastry warmed, they should just
automatically warm it. If a customer does not want a pastry warmed, honor that request but ask questions to
understand why.
Discuss: What road blocks do you anticipate with customers around warming and how can you help our baristas
work through those road blocks?
Questions (10 minutes)

Say: Lets talk about any questions or concerns you have leading up to launch or after launch day.
Ask: How can I support you during this transition and how can we together, as a team, support our baristas?
Published May 2013


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La Boulange Launch FY13