Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) Chairman & CEO Howard Schultz spoke with FOX Business Network’s (FBN) Maria Bartiromo during Opening Bell with Maria Bartiromo this morning about rising coffee prices. Schultz said, “I suspect coffee prices might go up even higher. We will anticipate that and most importantly, we can manage through it.” Schultz went on to say, “We do not have any intention at this time to raise prices. We can manage this. We have over a year’s worth of protection. I suspect that most of our competitors are short and we are in a much better position than they are.”
Starbucks CEO on mobile payments
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Starbucks CEO: Cautiously optimistic on U.S. economy, consumer
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Starbucks CEO on whether coffee prices will go up higher:
“I suspect coffee prices might go up even higher. We will anticipate that and most importantly, we can manage through it. We do not have any intention at this time to raise prices. We can manage this. We have over a year’s worth of protection. I suspect that most of our competitors are short and we are in a much better position than they are.”
Starbucks CEO on whether it is concerning to Starbucks that coffee exceeds $2 a pound:
“Certainly we’d like to see coffee at a more normalized price, but let’s put it in context with regard to Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX). We have more than one year’s worth of protection on physical inventory and contracts. And so the situation today is a little bit overblown. And it’s quite volatile. The situation is, we’ve had dry weather in Brazil. It now has started to rain. As you said, we had seen this many times over four decades. We have had the ability with many tools and resources to manage through this, and coffee prices at this stage will have no affect on Starbucks’ ability to hit our numbers and maintain the guidance we’ve had with the street.”
Starbucks CEO on mobile payments:
“We believe that there is an opportunity to extend the mobile payments that we are experience inside Starbucks store to other places within the marketplace -you’ll have to stay tuned on that, but we are in a unique position. We have had discussions with the leading tech companies who all want access to something that we have been able to do, and that is, we are not only the leader in mobile payments – there isn’t even a close second that is processing a million a week.”
