Starbucks kicked off construction for its China Coffee Innovation Park on Nov 16, 2020 in Kunshan, East China’s Jiangsu province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
World leading coffee house chain Starbucks kicked off construction for its China Coffee Innovation Park on Monday in Kunshan, East China's Jiangsu province, as part of its efforts to enhance its supply chain efficiency and build a greener coffee industry in the country.
When operational in summer 2022, the 80,000 square meter innovation park, -- an investment of $156 million -- will feature one of the first sustainable roasting plants in Starbucks global network, with smart supply chain operations.
An immersive experience center will showcase sustainable practices across the "Bean to Cup" coffee journey to visitors when open to the public.
"In designing Coffee Innovation Park, we challenged ourselves to create a 'next-generation' facility that transcends notions of a manufacturing site for Starbucks. Our ambition is for the (Coffee Innovation Park) to serve as a premier model that sets new standards in environmental sustainability and technological innovation, as well as partner (employee) and visitor experience," said Belinda Wong, chairman and chief executive officer, Starbucks China.
The facility is Starbucks' largest manufacturing investment outside of the United States and its first in Asia.
Located in the city of Kunshan, an hour from Shanghai, the park will source coffees from China and around the world directly from origin for processing, roasting, packaging and distribution, for the first time in the market.
A sketch illustrates the design of the Starbucks China's Coffee Innovation Park in Kunshan, East China's Jiangsu province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
The coffee chain operates six other roasting plants—one in Amsterdam to support European markets and five in the US.
When completed, the park will be one of the most sustainable manufacturing facilities for Starbucks globally, with its design based on guidelines from the US Green Building Council's LEED standards, as well as China's Three Star Green Building standards for carbon emissions, energy use and waste.
Energy-efficient roasting technology at the park will reduce carbon emissions by over 30 percent compared to Starbucks conventional roasting technology.
The park also will feature cutting-edge technologies that maximize manufacturing productivity, including smart manufacturing technologies that will enable advanced data collection and analysis, including predictive maintenance.
Its integrated distribution center will incorporate a fully-automated storage and retrieval system, which is designed to take up four times less space compared to conventional storage systems.
Last year, Starbucks eliminated plastic straws from all of its stores on the Chinese mainland, saving about 200 tons of plastic waste annually. In April, the company launched a new plant-based food and beverage menu as part of its efforts to inspire Chinese customers to explore new lifestyles with the planet in mind.
The facility is the latest of Starbucks investments in building the different pillars of the specialty coffee industry since entering the Chinese mainland market in 1999.
Starbucks now operates over 4,700 stores across more than 190 cities in the market, where a new Starbucks store opens every 15 hours.
