The new boss of Starbucks says he will overhaul the global coffee chain’s menu as the company continues to see its sales slide.

Brian Niccol also announced that he was suspending the firm’s financial forecasts for the coming year due to the “current state of the business”.

At the same time, the firm reported preliminary quarterly profits showing its sales and profits had dropped.

Starbucks shares fell by more than 4% after the announcement.

Starbucks needed to “fundamentally change” to bring back customers, Mr Niccol, who took over as chief executive in September, said.

“We will simplify our overly complex menu, fix our pricing architecture, and ensure that every customer feels Starbucks is worth it every single time they visit.”

Starbucks has seen customers cut back on spending as the rising cost of living squeezed people’s budgets.

A week before Starbucks was due to release its results for the three months to the end of September, the company said it expects comparable sales in the US to have fallen by 6% compared to a year earlier.

The downturn was more dramatic in China, where sales fell 14% for the same period, as the economy there falters.

“Despite our heightened investments, we were unable to change the trajectory of our traffic decline,” said Rachel Ruggeri, Starbucks chief financial officer.

Mr Niccol, who previously headed the Mexican food chain Chipotle, was brought into Starbucks to help turn the business around.

But he faced criticism over his plan to commute almost 1,000 miles (1,600km) from his family home in Newport Beach, California, to the firm’s headquarters in Seattle on a corporate jet.

Critics saw it as in contradiction with the company’s public stance on green issues.

The Nobel awards currently distort public perception of which sciences are important. They also, by failing to acknowledge collaborative and parallel work, give a misleading impression of how science is done. Moreover, vibrant new fields were left out of Alfred Nobel’s will. This year’s awards for artificial intelligence and computing are welcome signals that the Nobel committee recognises these deficiencies (Opinion, October 16).

These gaps are also being remedied by philanthropists who have established new prizes — some with even bigger jackpots and razzmatazz than the Nobels. Among these are the Breakthrough Prizes set up by Yuri Milner, a Russia-born Israeli entrepreneur (which has given prizes to large teams).

No scientist’s achievements are really solo, any more than a goalscorer’s triumph in football is independent of other players on the field. That’s why the seeming “clustering” of the awards in favoured countries or institutions is unsurprising. But Anjana Ahuja, your columnist, is right to urge that it’s ever more important to cast the net wider than Europe and the US. And, as she says, the proportion of female winners is deplorably low. But this should improve: the cohort of present winners were educated several decades ago, when fewer girls studied physics and maths.

Some argue that we should welcome the existence of mega-awards that elevate a few intellectuals to a transient celebrity status. But there is a downside: the winners’ opinions are sought by the press, and accorded undue respect.

Even the best scientists have narrow expertise; their views on broader topics carry no special weight. Some of the greatest become an embarrassment if given a public platform. A laureate can be found who will support almost any cause, however eccentric, and some exploit their status.

Laureates aren’t necessarily towering intellects: some of the most epochal and rightly recognised discoveries have been made (serendipitously) by people who wouldn’t claim any intellectual superiority to the average university professor. So we should specially welcome the award to such genuinely brilliant pioneers as Geoffrey Hinton and Demis Hassabis.

Martin Rees
Astronomer Royal, Cambridge, UK

The Indian D2C market value is worth approximately $12 billion in 2022. It is projected to surpass $60 billion mark by 2027, by growing at a CAGR of 40 per cent. Consumers have multiple touchpoints across channels, providing them with numerous choices, and making the decision-making process more complex. Furthermore, the Millennial group, forming 70 per cent of the total sample size, forms the largest consumer base in India and are likely to share their personal data in order to have personalised engagement.

These observations were made in a recent report by KPMG on D2C (Direct to Consumer) segment.

The report further pointed out that consumers have shifted their preferences to having more customisation in the goods and services being offered. Thus, this no longer renders an approach to building general marketing strategies fruitful. Further, rising support from the Indian government in terms of funding, liberalisation, fueling digital e-commerce and related policies have served as a push for the augmentation of the market.

The report observed that the pandemic has surged the amalgamation of offline and online shopping. Brands are now integrating with online sales channels to ensure a seamless shopping experience for customers. Further, many D2C brands today have started adopting tech-enabled solutions to streamline processes and efficiencies around supply chain and warehouse management. With the help of social media marketing, fashion and personal care brands have been enabled to market their products more effectively, be it through their own portal or with the help of influencer marketing. Voice-based shopping as well as shopping through social messaging services and chatbots too are gaining traction. Hygiene and Personal Care, Beauty and Skin Care, and Healthy Snacks and Beverages are the top categories in the D2C market.

The KPMG report highlights that beauty and skin care consumers prioritise eliminating root causes of skin issues over quick fixes. This can be seen with a higher share of following on topics like acne and acne removal. Moreover, users actively look out for products and treatments for sustainable hair growth as well as occasional styling.

Additionally, in the beauty and skincare category, face makeup is the most popular, accounting for 75 per cent of the total content views, followed by the nail and eye topics.
The report stated the users show the most interest in topics related to eyebrows, facial masks, and foundation products.

In the Nail category, users show interest in Nail Care, suggesting they have progressed beyond the product exploration stage. Quora users are more likely to purchase personal care products online, with hairstyling, grooming, and skincare products topping the list. Users are more likely to purchase beauty products such as cosmetics, hair colouring products, and fragrances than essentials like shampoos and conditioner.

As per the report, the growth in the D2C market in India is expected to continue, fueled by changing consumer preferences, increased funding, government support, and technological advancements.

The report further said India owns a 22 per cent share in the Hygiene and Personal care market of the APAC region and has witnessed tremendous growth in its exports by registering a 26 per cent increase in a span of four years previously. At the same time, as per the report, the healthy snacks and beverages market has been synonymous with being a convenient source of nutrition for consumers due to the rising need for affordability and accessibility.

Furthermore, green tea has been in high demand lately as more and more Quora users are recommending and following it. Cereals and Oatmeal are considered to be close substitutes for having full-fledged meals. Cereals is a popular topic on Quora under the segment and Oatmeal, being an English style breakfast, has also gained traction amongst Quora users lately as the market is in a developing stage. 

FURIOUS neighbours say they are losing sleep over their local pub’s plans to transform into the ‘Love Island villa’.

Owners of The Old Volunteer in Caythorpe, Nottinghamshire, have applied for permission to make huge changes to the beer garden.

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If granted, the popular watering hole will have a brand new kitchenette, toilet block, timber bar, two footbridges and fencing added outside.

The pub’s planning agents said the £200,000 investment would bring in £1million every year and would turn it into a “vibrant community facility”.

Pub owner and tech firm CEO Sean Reddington, called the venue his “passion project”, after living in the village for the last 20 years.

He built an incredible play area so parents can have a little peace and quiet, which has a miniature Co Op, hairdressers and train station.

It even has a mini version of the pub, called “The Young Volunteer.”

The pub made local news after it donated just over £45,000 to the Ukrainian Red Cross.

The eye-watering sum was raised in just one week and the staff even donated their personal tips.

But those living next door to the pub say that it’s already destroying their peace and quiet, and the plans will only amplify that.

One local, who formally objected to the planning application said the expansion plan was “more in tune with the set of Love Island” than a country pub.

The objector added: “I am a resident of Lowdham and am unfortunate enough to live within hearing of the pub.

“The situation at present is that not so near neighbours are unable to sit in their gardens in good weather enjoying the quiet of the countryside nor get their children to sleep because of the noise.” 

According to the pub’s planners, the changes would see a boost to employment as the pub would need three full-time chefs and a further 10-20 part time staff.

The environmental health officer for Newark and Sherwood District Council said they had no objection to the change of use, but confirmed there had been complaints about loud music.

If the plans go ahead, there would need to be a curfew on the outdoor area as well as an ‘acoustic barrier’ in the form of a fence specially created to reduce noise.

New owners took over the pub in 2022, transforming the boozer into a top-notch establishment.

The new chefs, who’d previously worked at other impressive local restaurants, introduced a high-end gastro-fusion menu.

The Sun has approached The Old Volunteer for comment.

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The stories that matter on money and politics in the race for the White House

The US dollar has rallied to its strongest level since August, boosted by a recent string of strong economic data and investor bets that Donald Trump’s chance of winning next month’s presidential election is on the rise.

The currency has climbed nearly 4 per cent since late September against a basket of rivals, helped by blockbuster US jobs figures earlier this month that prompted investors to scale back their expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts.

But traders and analysts say shorter odds on a second Trump administration have added fuel to the rally, given that the former president’s plans to slap tariffs on imports are expected to push up inflation and interest rates should he win on November 5.

“The markets are moving to price in a greater probability of Trump victory,” said Lee Hardman, senior currency analyst at MUFG.

Betting markets and swing-state polls showing momentum for the former president have prompted investors to consider the market impact of policies to raise tariffs, restrict immigration and lower taxes.

Trump has indicated his desire to weaken the dollar, but investors have long thought his economic policies will do the opposite, particularly if the Republicans manage a “red sweep” of the White House and both houses of Congress.

Citi said its hedge fund clients, encouraged by the shift in US election odds, had this month been on their longest daily buying streak of the dollar in two years. Barclays said there was an observable “election premium” in the dollar, adding that the shift in Fed expectations on its own was not sufficient to explain the currency’s recent gains. 

Thierry Wizman, global foreign exchange and interest rate strategist at Macquarie, said there were “two pillars” to the dollar’s recent strength. The first was what he called the “re-emergence of American exceptionalism” in strong economic data, and the second was signs of a so-called “Trump trade”.

Trump’s economic policies “tend to be associated with more inflation and as a result they tend to be associated with a less aggressive rate-easing cycle from the Fed over the next few years”, said Wizman.

Expectations of slower interest rate cuts by the Fed have also fuelled a sell-off in longer-term US Treasuries in recent weeks, with the yield on the 10-year government bond reaching 4.22 per cent on Tuesday, its highest since July.

Swaps markets expect one or two further Fed cuts this year, implying a significant chance that the central bank holds rates at one of its two remaining meetings. Last month, investors had been expecting at least a quarter-point cut at each meeting.

The shift, just a month after the Fed launched began lowering borrowing costs from a 23-year high, has sent traders scrambling to adjust their positions. Volatility in the Treasuries market, measured by the Ice BofA Move index, has reached its highest level since the end of last year. 

However, with the US election result still seen as very close, other analysts said most investors would be reluctant to make wagers on the outcome at this point.

Tim Baker, Deutsche Bank’s head of FX research for the Americas, said he did think a Trump victory would “help the dollar, but we think that lies ahead”. 

The election is “basically a binary event with huge tail risks on either side”, said Mark McCormick, global head of FX and EM strategy at TD Securities.