American coffee chain Starbucks has seen sales in China fall in the past quarter due to the corona lockdowns in the country. However, despite declining sales in China, the group recorded record sales due to strong sales and price increases in North America.
In China, where a third of Starbucks stores are closed or subject to strict corona measures, sales fell by 23 percent. As a result, international turnover fell by 8 percent.
In North America, on the other hand, sales grew by 12 percent. However, higher costs for labour, transportation and raw materials detract from North American profit margins.
Total turnover rose in the second quarter of the broken financial year by 15 percent to 7.6 billion dollars, converted into more than 7.2 billion euros. That was the highest revenue ever in the second quarter. In addition, consumers bought more cups of coffee in restaurants, which were allowed to reopen after lockdowns. As a result, comparable store sales per branch increased by 7 percent worldwide.
Starbucks expects the lockdowns in Shanghai and the corona measures in Beijing and other Chinese cities to have an “even greater impact” on its results in the third quarter. However, despite the current problems in China, CEO Howard Schultz remains convinced that Starbucks’ China operations will eventually outgrow its US operations.