New Starbucks CEO to don barista hat every month

NEW YORK: Starbucks’ new Indian-origin CEO Laxman Narasimhan has said he will work as a barista once a month in stores to stay close to the company’s culture, customers, challenges and opportunities.

Narasimhan, 55, officially became the Seattle-based coffee giant’s chief executive on Monday, taking the reins from Howard Schultz about two weeks earlier than scheduled.

He was welcomed as incoming CEO of Starbucks with a coffee tasting in the place where it all began – at Seattle’s Pike Place market store.

In a letter to the employees on Thursday, the Indian-American business executive said he will always be a “fierce advocate” for the company’s partners and its culture.

“With you, I’ve experienced every aspect of the business to learn what it truly means to wear the green apron. You’ve welcomed me into our stores, trained me in how to be a barista … all to help me deeply understand what we do, how we do it, and the challenges and opportunities facing us,” he wrote.

Barista is a person who serves in a coffee bar. “To keep us close to the culture and our customers, as well as to our challenges and opportunities, I intend to continue working in stores for a half day each month,” he was quoted as saying.

“I thought it was very important for me to put myself in the shoes of the partners and really understand what they do and how they do it. There were things I learned through experience in all of this. It taught me a lot,” he said in a statement.

Pune-born Narasimhan joined Starbucks as interim CEO in October and has since spent time getting to know the company — including earning a barista certification, which requires 40 hours of training in stores.