Starbucks CEO defends company’s DEI practices, says they are ‘key’ strength of business

Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol reaffirmed during a shareholder meeting this week that the company will continue focusing on diversity, calling it a key part of the coffee giant’s strength.

“Starbucks is a tremendously, tremendously diverse organization and will continue to be a tremendously diverse organization, just by the nature of our mission, our values, and how we operate around the world,” Niccol said during the Wednesday meeting.

It was his first shareholder meeting since taking over in September and subsequently launching a “Back to Starbucks” strategy aimed at reverting the company back to its coffee house roots to drive traffic back to stores. 

While the business world has been scaling back its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, Niccol highlighted that with 40,000 stores in 88 markets, it is critical for the company to reflect the diversity of its customers and staff “in every single one of our stores.”

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“Diversity is going to continue to be a key, I think, strength of our business and, frankly, helps us connect with our customers at another level,” Niccol added. 

Starbucks Chief Partner Officer Sarah Kelly reiterated Niccol’s sentiment, telling shareholders that the company is “deeply committed to diversity.”

“When I think about the work that we’re doing, we’re focused on creating diversity through a culture of inclusion as well, where every partner and every customer feels like they belong at Starbucks,” Kelly said. The company refers to its employees as “partners.” 

Niccol said the company is also focused on ensuring that its board of “directors bring unique skills, experience, tenure and diversity” so they can contribute effectively.

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“We’re always working to improve our board to ensure our directors are capable, prepared, equipped to oversee the success of our business both today and in the future,” he added. 

The comments come as pressure mounts on major corporations to scale back on initiatives that purport to increase racial and gender equality in the workplace. 

The initiatives have also faced fierce criticism from President Donald Trump, who signed an executive order in January directing government agencies to investigate DEI programs at publicly held corporations, large nonprofit corporations or associations and foundations with assets of at least $500 million. Target falls under that category.    

“Illegal DEI and DEIA policies not only violate the text and spirit of our longstanding Federal civil-rights laws, they also undermine our national unity, as they deny, discredit, and undermine the traditional American values of hard work, excellence, and individual achievement in favor of an unlawful, corrosive, and pernicious identity-based spoils system,” the executive order said.

Target, Amazon, Lowe’s, Meta, McDonald’s, American Airlines and Boeing have pulled back on their DEI programs over the past several months. In November, Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer, announced plans to roll back its policies, including how it monitors products within its marketplace and reviews grant funding.

In an interview with FOX Business in February, Walmart CFO John David Rainey said the company hasn’t seen any impact on its business following its announcement.

“We want to be a place where all of America can come to shop,” Rainey said. “We want to be a place where all of America can come to work. So, we haven’t changed our values, and we haven’t seen any impact from any of the announcements that have been out there.”