SEATTLE — Starbucks Corp. will be reducing the number of items on its food and beverage menu throughout the year to simplify operations, accelerate order processing and improve the customer’s experience.

“In the coming months, you’ll see us begin to optimize our menu offerings, resulting in roughly 30% reduction in both beverages and foods SKUs (stock-keeping units) by the end of fiscal year 2025,” said Brian Niccol, chairman and chief executive officer, during a Jan. 28 conference call to discuss first-quarter results. “As we do, we’ll work to lead this market with breakthrough beverage and food innovation. We’ll do this by being responsive to customer trends, and their changing preferences.”

Niccol added that the company will be implementing a “disciplined stage gate process” to help Starbucks bring to market fewer but better beverage and food offerings.

The goal of the simplification efforts is to reduce the customer’s wait time for an order to no more than 4 minutes.

“Through the quarter, we’ve continued to test and learn as we position the business to achieve our 4-minute-throughput goal with a moment of connection,” Niccol said. “In short, investments in staffing and deployment, processes and algorithm technology, demonstrate the greatest opportunity to deliver a 4-minute wait time in most of our cafes.”

Niccol contends that an overly complex order processing system and menu has contributed to Starbucks’ weak financial results, which continued into the first quarter.

For the quarter ended Dec. 29, 2024, Starbucks’ net income fell 24% to $780 million, equal to 69¢ per share on the common stock, compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2024 when the company earned $1 billion, or 90¢ per share.

Total net sales fell less than 1% to $9.4 billion from $9.41 billion the year before.

“Our work to re-introduce our brand is just beginning but our core business is already strengthening, demonstrating that when we talk about our business customers respond,” Niccol said. “Through the quarter, we saw a shift in our sales mix toward coffee and espresso-based beverages, which over-delivered and compensated for lower-than-expected performance across our holiday promotions.”

Despite Niccol’s positivity, Starbucks continued to lose customers during the quarter, particularly in its North America segment where comparable store sales fell 4% vs. growth of 5% during the first quarter of fiscal 2024. The number of transactions during the quarter fell 8% compared to growth of 1% the year before. North America sales were $7.1 billion during the quarter, down 1% from $7.12 billion the year before. Segment operating income fell 22% to $1.2 billion from $1.5 billion in fiscal 2024.

Adding more stores in North America is a focus for Niccol, who said during the call that he sees the potential to double Starbucks’ store count while improving the overall health of its portfolio.