“Starbucks facing issues to cope up with supply shortage in stores of Canada

and U.S”

New of the day:

When it comes to a favourite leading coffee chain brand in Canada or U.S, STARBUCKS has
always been topping on the list by the customers. Covid-19 pandemic has affected many
businesses in the market and Starbucks has been one of it facing supply to demand issue on
both sides of the border. That means that many customers might not be able to get their
usual orders for the time being.

One of the Starbucks employee informed that “supply shortages have been an issue at her
store since January. The store is often out of matcha powder, brown sugar syrup, hazelnut
syrup, caramel drizzle and freeze-dried fruits. Non-food items like drink trays, stoppers and
stickers are also usually unavailable”1.

The employees are facing problem in coping up with the customers and saying NO to most
of the menu items. It was also informed by the employee that many customers get angry
and frustrated due to shortage and just walk away when their usual order is not available.
Also, people are coming to online platforms where they are expressing their anger and
sadness of not getting their usuals for a long time now.

A statement was release from the Starbucks stating “We are experiencing temporary supply
shortages of some of our products. We apologize for the inconvenience, and are working
quickly and closely with our supply chain vendors to restock items as soon as possible” 1.

Starbucks had also earlier in Jan this year announced that in Canada they will close up to
300 stores by March 2021 to accelerate its five-year plan to transform the company in
response to how consumer habits have changed in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Project management aspects and take away.

1. Supply to demand:
Any business can run successfully only when supply to demand is matched, else the
fall down can be anticipated. As a project management view, the most demanded
items should have been taken care of to run the business smoothly.

2. Customer satisfaction:
We know that the company’s major stakeholder are the customers and they should
be managed properly. Customers are getting restated with the company for always
being out of items which can be a major drawback.
 The Starbucks had given statement apologizing the public for the shortage due to
pandemic and that is a good step to inform the customers about the issue company
is facing for not keeping up to the mark with the demand.

3. Procurement strategies and risk planning:

Starbucks are totally dependent on vendors for their items. As a PM view, the
company should always have a back up procurement strategies and backup vendors
so that they don’t face any problem in terms of procuring the items.

4. Supply chain management:

As a chain store, the supply chain management needs to be in place to suffix all the
similar items availability in all the stores. A shortage and inventory need to be always
checked and should be procured before hand to mitigate the risk of shortage.

Source:
1. https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2021/06/10/starbucks-is-facing-a-supply-
shortage-and-you-may-not-have-your-favourite-drinks-for-a-while.html
2. https://www.thestar.com/business/2021/01/12/starbucks-says-closure-of-
up-to-300-stores-in-canada-to-be-completed-by-end-of-march.html