CONTEXT
Starbucks came to us looking to update their entire coffee education program—the materials they rely on to train new baristas and support HQ employees as they dive into the world of coffee. The time was right: leadership wanted to develop coffee expertise across all employees, baristas were asking for more development tools, and a wealth of coffee knowledge existed at Starbucks, but it wasn’t being efficiently shared. We jumped in to help them create the best educational materials Starbucks employees had ever seen — digestible and engaging while also distinctive and beautifully designed. 

OUR APPROACH
First, we worked with the Starbucks learning team to explore new names and architectures for the entire system, landing on Coffee Academy as the program name and a familiar 100-level through 500-level modular system built around three topic areas: Origin & Ethical Sourcing, Roast & Blend, and Brew & Craft.

From there we dove in to content development, reworking copy to increase clarity, shooting new photos to add depth to key lessons, and adding beautiful illustrations to spark excitement about the story of coffee. We designed new books from top to bottom, based on a clear information architecture created to increase clarity and engagement.

Along with 95,000 copies of a guiding Coffee Passport for all Starbucks partners, 23,000 copies of the 100- and 200-level books were printed and distributed to stores, and we partnered with Starbucks and Arizona State University to bring the tools to life online. To date, over 50,000 people have registered to explore the content online. This new take on coffee education at Starbucks has supported their corporate goal of reigniting coffee passion and provided a wonderful way for employees and customers to root themselves in Starbucks’ coffee heritage. Employees and leaders are calling the work “the most engaging yet approachable learning materials Starbucks has ever produced.”

Touch continues to partner with the Learning team to build on the Coffee Academy series with videos, podcasts, guidebooks, and customer brew guides, all coming soon.