Starbucks shuffles top brass, names new operating chief

By Ananya Mariam Rajesh

(Reuters) -Starbucks on Wednesday promoted its North America chief coffeehouse officer Mike Grams to chief operating officer as part of a leadership reshuffle aimed at boosting performance.

This is the latest in a series of moves from CEO Brian Niccol, who took over the top job last year and has said he wants to return Starbucks to its coffee house roots.

Niccol has promised a simpler menu and Starbucks cafes going back to ceramic cups, offering refills and condiment bars, while also reducing wait times to under four minutes. He has also cut back on the company's deals and discounts, seeking instead to broaden its marketing beyond loyalty program members.

"... our performance isn't yet where we want it to be," Niccol said in a statement on Wednesday, adding, "We're making additional organizational changes to help bring teams closer together, strengthen leadership accountability, and allow teams to move with even greater clarity and urgency."

In April, the coffee giant reported disappointing global comparable sales and profit for the second quarter, as inflation and economic uncertainty increased costs and dampened U.S. demand.

The company hired a new finance boss in March, tapping retail industry veteran Cathy Smith for the role. This followed an announcement in January that Starbucks' North America president Sara Trilling and chief supply chain officer Arthur Valdez would leave.

Trilling's role was then split, and Grams had assumed the position of chief coffeehouse officer. In addition to leading the company's cafes in North America, Grams will now oversee global coffeehouse development and supply chain operations, Niccol said in the statement.

Grams and Niccol are both former Taco Bell executives.

Starbucks said Grams' base salary will now be $900,000 per year, up from $700,000 per year. His annual incentive bonus target has been increased to 125% of his base salary from 100%.

(Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi and Sayantani Ghosh)