Starbucks Surpasses 80 Million Uses of Personal Reusable Cups Over 15 Years

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] The number of personal reusable cup uses by Starbucks customers has surpassed 80 million over the past 15 years.

Starbucks Coffee Korea announced on the 16th that an analysis of 15 years of data from 2007, when the personal reusable cup benefit system began, through October of this year, showed that the number of personal reusable cup uses reached 81.89 million.

To promote the use of personal reusable cups, Starbucks offers customers who use their own cups a 300 KRW discount or an additional Eco Star point. When converted into monetary value, the accumulated benefits to date amount to approximately 32.2 billion KRW.

Notably, from 2019 to the end of October 2021, about 52.27 million uses of personal reusable cups were recorded, accounting for 64% of the total usage, indicating a recent shift in customer awareness toward reusable cup use.

From January to October this year, the number of personal reusable cup uses recorded 17.56 million, a 23% increase compared to the same period last year, already surpassing the 17.39 million uses of the entire previous year. At this rate, it is expected that the number of personal reusable cup uses will exceed 21 million by the end of the year, and the cumulative total is projected to reach 100 million next year.

This trend is attributed to changes in customer awareness regarding the environment and reusable cups, as well as policies encouraging personal cup use and expanded customer benefits. Starbucks provides benefits such as a 300 KRW discount or Eco Star points to customers who order with reusable cups. Additionally, various campaigns are held annually to increase the number of reusable cup users.

In particular, after introducing the ‘Eco Bonus Star’ system in November 2018, which expanded customer options by allowing Eco Star points to be earned when using personal cups, the number of personal reusable cup uses in 2019 alone exceeded 17 million, nearly doubling compared to 2018.

The 'Reusable Cup Day' event held nationwide on September 28th, aimed at introducing reusable cups and expanding customer experience, is also analyzed as a positive factor in changing customer awareness. Following the event, the number of personal reusable cup uses in October reached 1.97 million, representing a 66% increase compared to the same period last year and a 30% increase compared to September.

Song Hoseop, CEO of Starbucks, stated, “The use of reusable cups in eco-friendly stores without disposable cups is a transitional process for changing customer awareness, and we plan to listen to customer feedback and make improvements so that initial awkwardness can turn into comfort.” He added, “We will do our best to achieve zero disposable cups in all stores nationwide by 2025.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.