Starbucks
Michelle Burns is executive vice president of Global Coffee, Tea and Cocoa for Starbucks. In this role Michelle drives the company’s strategy for delivering a diverse portfolio of high-quality, ethically sourced coffee, tea and cocoa to partners and customers around the world. She leads a global team of industry experts responsible for sourcing, developing and roasting coffee; advancing coffee R&D and innovative farming practices; developing and executing programs, initiatives and partnerships to support Starbucks people and planet positive goals thru the lens of farmers and coffee, tea and cocoa communities; and driving partner and customer engagement, education and experiences to bring coffee storytelling to life – all with the aspiration of ensuring a sustainable future of coffee for all.
Michelle is a 26-year Starbucks partner, with much of her career focused on business development and relationship management, driving strategic retail relationships across numerous segments through licensing and foodservice channels. She previously led the Branded Solutions team and has been a key member of the Starbucks Channel Development and Licensed Stores leadership teams.
Contributing more broadly to Starbucks culture, she is the executive sponsor for the Starbucks Women’s Impact Network (WIN) and also serves on the board of The Starbucks Foundation. Outside of the company, Michelle is a member of the Women’s Foodservice Forum and serves on the Board of Directors for FareStart and the National Coffee Association.
Prior to joining Starbucks, Michelle worked in sales and distribution in the Natural Foods Industry where she first found her passion for coffee. After an expedition to the Global Seed Vault in Svalbard Norway in 2018 and her many conversations with farmers around the world over the course of her career, that passion has grown to include a desire and sense of responsibility to care for the future of our food supply and the many people who grow it.
Michelle has a bachelor’s degree in communication studies from The University of Iowa.
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Starbucks
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Starbucks ethically sources and roasts high-quality arabica coffee. They are known as the leading roaster and retailer of specialty coffee globally. Starbucks purchases, roasts, and serves award-winning coffee to its millions of customers. Their food and beverage offerings include Italian-style espresso beverages, cold blended beverages, seasonal drinks, hot breakfast, lunch, snacks, a bakery, and premium teas. Additionally, they sell merchandise like tumblrs and mugs as well as gift cards for special occasions. In some stores around the world, they sell alcoholic drinks. In everything they do, they always live by their mission: to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time. Founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gordon Bowker, Starbucks began as a single store front in Pike Place Market. Originally, they sourced their beans from Peet's Coffee & Tea. Eventually, Alfred Peet stopped supplying his own beans and began to train a new Roastmaster for the company. Following this transition, they sold the company in the 1980's to Howard Schultz who had Italian Coffeehouse aspirations. Originally a coffee bean store, Howard set out to make Starbucks an espresso-based coffeeshop and led much of the expansion of the franchise. With shifts in leadership over time, a decade was spent growing market share and defining corporate social responsibility. Starbucks went on acquire several operations as part of their strategy such as Seattle's Best Coffee, Torrefazione Italia, and The Coffee Connection. Today, Starbucks operates in the US, Canada, UK, Europe, and Asia with about 32,000 stores worldwide.