Starbucks

The company has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in automation, including AI-powered chatbots.

Anand Varadarajan joins the coffee chain after nearly 19 years at Amazon.

Forget the coffee wars. Milk tea’s rise in China offers a playbook for Southeast Asia’s next consumer wave.

This move comes after six consecutive quarters of falling same-store sales and continued competitive pressure from rivals in the US and China.

The AI software is provided by NomadGo, a company that offers similar services to other food chains.

BigBasket’s entry adds pressure to the quick commerce space, which includes Swiggy, Blinkit, and Zepto.

The coffee chain recently surpassed Starbucks as Malaysia’s largest coffee operator.

Starbucks may prefer a franchisee agreement with a strategic partner, which could value Starbucks China at over US$1 billion.

The layoffs come as Starbucks faces declining demand for premium beverages in key markets like the US and China.

Luckin intends to focus on cities like New York that attract large numbers of Chinese students and tourists.