Costa Coffee adds tiramisu sandwich and ice latte to summer menu
The rich dark chocolate cookie sandwich is filled with a tiramisu-inspired, creamy coffee frosting, finished with icing and cocoa powder.
It joins the tiramisu drinks range, which includes the Tiramisu Frappé, Tiramisu Iced Whipped Latte and the Ready-to-Drink Tiramisu Frappé.
There's also a return for fan-favourite Spanish Latte. Inspired by global coffee trends and loved by customers across the UK, it's back by popular demand, with its sweet, condensed milk-flavoured sauce. For those looking to cool off, the Iced Spanish Latte delivers the same flavour, poured over ice.
Need a cool coffee on the move this Summer? Costa Coffee's ready-to-drink Latte range has you covered, now available in two flavours, Classic and Caramel.
There's also a new range of savoury Barista Bites:
Cheese Bites – Golden, crumb-coated bites of melted cheese, served with a tangy tomato chutney for a satisfying, savoury snack.
High Protein Chicken Bites – Crispy breaded chicken bites served with a smoky chipotle BBQ dip, delivering big flavour and a protein boost.
'At Costa Coffee, we believe Summer should taste as good as it feels, and this year, we've taken inspiration from around the world to bring those holiday flavours a little closer to home," says Nishant Bhatia, Costa Coffee global food and beverage innovation director.
'From the smooth sweetness of the Spanish Latte to the Tiramisu Cookie Sandwich inspired by the classic Italian dessert, it's all about helping our customers taste a little bit of Summer, one sip or bite at a time.
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"And for those in the mood to snack, our Barista Bites are a fun new food format for Costa Coffee – perfect for enjoying in-store or grabbing on-the-go as you make the most of those sunny days."
If you're jetting off for a city escape or a sun-soaked getaway, Costa Coffee now has stores in major UK airports, including London Heathrow, Manchester, Aberdeen, and Birmingham, and its hot beverage range is available onboard easyJet and Jet2.com flights.
These new additions to Costa Coffee's Summer menu are available in-stores nationwide from tomorrow, Thursday, July 3, 2025.
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Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Washington state has one of the wealthiest suburbs in the US, new study finds. See where
Mercer Island in Washington state ranks among the wealthiest suburbs in the United States, according to a new analysis of government data by personal finance site GOBankingRates. GOBankingRates used 2023 U.S. Census data to rank the wealthiest suburb in each of the 50 largest U.S. metro areas, analyzing household mean income, one-year income growth, and the average home value as of June 2025 and its year-over-year change. Here's what else to know about Mercer Island, part of the Seattle metro area, and other wealthy suburbs in the nation: What to know about Mercer Island, Washington state's wealthiest suburb An island community located in Lake Washington between Seattle and Bellevue, Mercer Island has a population of more than 25,000 people. In 2023, it had a household mean income of $303,425, which was a 1.22% increase from the previous year. As of June 2025, the average single-family home value was $2,494,508, marking a 2.49% increase from the prior year, according to the GOBankingRates study. Mercer Island ranked 15th in the study of the wealthiest suburbs in America's 50 largest metros. That's because the Seattle metro area is the 15th-most populated metro, with 4 million people. The suburb of Scarsdale, New York, ranked first, as the New York City metro area (19.8 million population) is the most populous in the nation. Mercer Island's neighborhoods are mainly composed of single-family homes. There are some multi-family homes and a commercial district on the northern part of the island, however, according to the city's website. "Its close proximity to both Seattle and Bellevue makes island living convenient," the website states. "The City owns approximately 475 acres of parkland and open space, which helps maintain the island's natural beauty. The result is quiet, forested neighborhoods, complemented by stunning views of Seattle, the Cascade Mountains, Mount Rainier and Lake Washington." The island has attracted influential billionaires such as former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, according to CNBC. Where are other wealthy suburbs in Washington state? In a separate GOBankingRates study posted in July, the site ranked the wealthiest suburbs in the United States overall. In this study, Mercer Island ranked 29th in the nation, while Sammamish ranked 44th. Sammamish, part of the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro area, had a 2023 household mean income of $280,644. The average value of a single-family home was about $1.8 million. It has a population of about 65,100 people, according to Census Reporter. "Located 25 miles east of Seattle, it is a desirable residential area for those who work in the city but prefer a quieter, more suburban lifestyle," the Sammamish Chamber of Commerce's website states. "Come and discover the irresistible allure of Sammamish – it's a place where natural wonders and community spirit intertwine, creating an enchanting destination for all to enjoy." What are the 10 wealthiest suburbs in America's 50 biggest metros? Here are the top 10 most populated metro areas in the country, and the wealthiest suburb of each one, according to GOBankingRates: Scarsdale, New York: suburb of New York City (19.8 million), household mean income of $601,193 in 2023 Palos Verdes Estates, California: suburb of Los Angeles (13 million), household mean income of $367,178 in 2023 Hinsdale, Illinois: suburb of Chicago (9.4 million), household mean income of $376,366 in 2023 University Park, Texas: suburb of Dallas (7.8 million), household mean income of $389,868 in 2023 West University Place, Texas: suburb of Houston (7.3 million), household mean income of $409,677 in 2023 McLean, Virginia: suburb of Washington, D.C. (6.3 million), household mean income of $364,591 in 2023 Ardmore, Pennsylvania: suburb of Philadelphia (6.2 million), household mean income of $161,029 in 2023 Milton, Georgia: suburb of Atlanta (6.2 million), household mean income of $225,532 in 2023 Pinecrest, Florida: suburb of Miami (6.1 million), household mean income of $312,591 in 2023 Scottsdale, Arizona: suburb of Phoenix (4.9 million), household mean income of $168,679 in 2023 This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Washington state's wealthiest suburb has an average income of $300,000 Solve the daily Crossword
Bloomberg
10 hours ago
- Bloomberg
The True Cost of Firing a CEO
When Starbucks Corp. tapped Brian Niccol as chief executive officer in 2024, it cited the 'critical need for a transformative leader' in justifying the hire. If performance significantly improves, stock payouts mean the corner-office switch could cost the company $130 million. That figure includes estimated exit payments to outgoing CEO Laxman Narasimhan as well as so-called 'make whole' awards of cash and stock sufficient to entice Niccol to leave his job running Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. Starbucks deemed the payments 'necessary' to recruit Niccol. But some observers balked. 'The price of the transition is staggering,' concluded proxy-advisory firm Glass Lewis, in a February report that criticized the company's succession planning and urged shareholders to vote against its executive compensation plan. 'Shareholders should be critical of the costly nature of a CEO transition.' They rarely are, though. Starbucks' shareholders approved the pay packages at the company's annual meeting in March, displaying the same optimism in Niccol's turnaround ability that lifted the company's shares 25% on the day his appointment was announced. Perhaps if shareholders knew the full cost of a CEO ouster, they'd be more wary, as the price tag goes well beyond severance and sign-on payments made public in filings. There's been increased turnover in the top job, much of it unplanned. According to there were 134 CEO force-outs last year at Russell 3000 firms. CEO Ousters Are On the Rise Force-outs picked back up after a lull during the pandemic To give a proper accounting for unplanned CEO departures, Bloomberg News consulted with compensation consultants, academics, corporate lawyers, executive-search advisors and public-relations experts. Farient Advisors, an executive compensation and corporate governance consultant, crunched the numbers and provided estimates based on a sample of last year's departures at big US firms like Starbucks, Intel Corp. and Nike Inc. Deciphering the convoluted payments to the outgoing and incoming CEOs was just one element of the analysis. Corporate boards typically hire a bevy of advisors to handle the hunt for a new CEO and other critical aspects of the transition. Tasked with working fast and under scrutiny, none of them comes cheap. Sometimes boards also give retention bonuses to other senior leaders during the transition. The new CEO might then bring in fresh C-suite members, which results in additional replacement costs. (Niccol's new chief financial officer, Cathy Smith, received cash and stock worth an estimated $11.4 million to come aboard at Starbucks.) Other indirect costs of a CEO ouster are harder to measure, but still very real, like the impact on employee morale, productivity and turnover, or business opportunities that might get sidelined when the board is consumed with finding a new chief. And then there's the potential hit to the stock. As with layoffs, which Bloomberg analyzed last year, the true cost of a CEO ouster is rarely straightforward, but always steep. Unlike Kohl's Corp. 's recent firing of CEO Ashley Buchanan, who was found to have channeled millions of dollars of business to a paramour, most CEOs are rarely fired 'for cause,' a determination reserved for especially egregious behavior. Often, CEOs who know they're in danger will voluntarily (and quietly) resign to save face. A formal 'retirement' can also mask a firing. Companies are not always required to disclose the true reason for a departure, so lawyers and public-relations reps often work hard to make a dramatic ouster look like a ho-hum transition. To help determine whether a CEO was actually forced out, we relied on the experts at whose analysis of leadership transitions cuts through corporate jargon and platitudes like 'pursuing other opportunities' to determine the true cause of an executive exit. Exechange scores executive departures on a scale of 0 to 10. Those with a score of 8 or higher are considered to have been forceouts or firings. Along with Starbucks, other high-profile companies that dumped their CEOs in 2024 included Nike, Wendy's Co., Peloton Interactive Inc., Under Armour Inc. and CVS Health Corp. The pace of push-outs has accelerated since then amid the tumult of tariffs, uncertainty about the coming impact of artificial intelligence and other boardroom anxieties, with 42% of 157 departing CEOs being forced out or fired in the first half of 2025, Exechange data show. That's up from an average of about one in three over the previous eight years. 'In the current environment of rapid technological advancement and geopolitical volatility, boards are rigorously replacing CEOs who are not up to the new challenges,' said Exechange founder Daniel Schauber. TAKEAWAY: The median payment to forced-out CEOs last year was $6.2 million, including payouts for unvested stock awards and other equity-based compensation. Once the board decides to make a switch — often in an emergency meeting — the costs start accruing. Public-company executives typically receive at least a partial payout of unvested stock awards if they are terminated without cause. Farient's analysis of CEO push-outs in 2024 at a sample of more than two-dozen Russell 1000 index firms found that about three-quarters of companies accelerated some equity payments for outgoing CEOs. (Sometimes, CEOs will receive short-term 'advisory' contracts purportedly to smooth the transition to the new leader, but they're often just hanging around to continue to vest their equity.) Some CEOs are sent packing with the promise of assistance from outplacement firms or other career advisors, according to Robin Ferracone, Farient's CEO. Sima Sistani, who was ousted in 2024 from WW International Inc. (formerly known as WeightWatchers), walked away with up to $37,500 in executive coaching. Often these benefits are built into the executives' employment contracts. It's not uncommon, though, for departing CEOs to try and capitalize on the urgency of the situation and negotiate for more severance or other perks, according to Helenanne Connolly, a partner at the law firm Cooley LLP who represents corporate clients. Severance arrangements for CEOs can vary widely, and often aren't directly correlated to a company's size or industry. Farient's analysis of ousters in 2024 found companies paid a median $3.1 million in cash. For those paying out equity, the median total payment landed at $6.2 million. All to say goodbye to someone who, in most cases, screwed up. Narasimhan, after leaving Starbucks, is due to receive more than $9 million in cash, and the company estimated his potential equity payout at just under $20 million, according to its regulatory filings. Not bad for 17 months' work. (The actual value won't be finalized until the company's 2026 fiscal year concludes, due to some multi-year performance awards that extended past his departure and will be prorated by his time served during those periods.) Finding a new CEO to right the ship is an even steeper cost when the board is in a rush. The main reason: make-whole payments, which seek to replace the estimated value of the cash and stock that the incoming chief is sacrificing at his or her old employer. In Niccol's case, the make-whole payments — $10 million in cash and $80 million in equity — were 'mammoth,' according to Glass Lewis. What's more, the proxy-advisory firm said it's not entirely clear how Starbucks arrived at its estimate for what Niccol was giving up, which was one reason why it recommended a vote against Starbucks' compensation plans. Estimating what any CEO might have stood to make based on performance at their previous employer is subject to interpretation. Starbucks, for its part, said the make-whole payment to Niccol covered forfeited grants that would have been paid not long after he departed Chipotle. 'We brought in a proven leader with a strong track record to set Starbucks up for success and create long-term value for all stakeholders,' a Starbucks spokesperson said in a statement. 'He is backed by an experienced team, and much of his compensation is tied to future financial performance.' Corporate Chiefs Get Big Paydays Both Coming and Going The combined payments to ousted CEOs and their successors add up While Niccol's big payday was an outlier, Farient's analysis found that the median sign-on payment was $9 million, which again is just the enticement to pry the new CEOs from their old job. It doesn't include their first-year salary or bonus in the new job. These amounts are often comparable to what the previous CEO was making. (Niccol's performance-based cash bonus in his first year could be as much as $7.2 million.) What tempers those payments are instances where the new CEO isn't an external hire, like Niccol or Intel's Lip-Bu Tan was, but promoted from within, as was the case at discount chain Dollar Tree Inc. and technology manufacturer Jabil Inc. Still, though roughly half of the new CEOs in Farient's analysis were internal promotions, three-quarters of all the new CEOs received some sort of sign-on award. TAKEAWAY: Boards sometimes give retention awards to other senior leaders to encourage them to stay or to step up as an interim CEO. CEO transitions don't happen in a vacuum — they impact other leaders across the organization. The board might be concerned about losing other members of the C-suite who were staunch allies of the deposed CEO or who perhaps felt they deserved the top job. Other times, retention bonuses go to leaders who step up as an interim CEO while the board searches for a permanent replacement. In those and other cases, boards will hand out retention awards of cash and stock to one or more senior executives. Those payments can add up: At health-care company QuidelOrtho Corp., for instance, retention bonuses paid to five separate senior executives totaled $6.8 million. Kibble retailer Petco Health & Wellness Co. pledged to pay $4 million 'to establish continuity among key members of the leadership team during our search for a permanent CEO.' That sought-after continuity can be fleeting, though. In Petco's case, none of the three executives who were granted retention awards stayed long enough to fully vest and as a result received just a fraction of their potential payout. Their departures, in turn, necessitated exit payments and recruitment expenses of their own, compounding the cost of the CEO ouster even further. Let's not forget the executives left standing when a CEO jumps ship, as happened at Chipotle when Niccol resigned. The restaurant chain delivered retention awards valued at $38 million to a half-dozen leaders for their service 'during the period of uncertainty that inevitably follows a change in top leadership,' it said in a filing. 'The executive ranks get demoralized, they're bombarded with job offers, and everyone is nervous about the new CEO,' said Joseph Fuller, a management professor at Harvard Business School. 'Nobody in their right mind thinks they are in a secure position.' TAKEAWAY: The cost of executive search firms, lawyers, public-relations consultants and other advisers can reach into the seven figures quickly. Finding the new CEO, negotiating his or her new contract and communicating the change in leadership to investors, the media, employees and other stakeholders are tasks typically delegated to outside experts. The process often starts with an executive search firm like Spencer Stuart, Korn Ferry or Russell Reynolds Associates, whose partners specialize in specific industries and maintain vast networks of seasoned executives, up-and-coming leaders and corporate directors. A search firm's standard fee is one-third of the total cash compensation (salary, bonus and sign-on payment) paid to the CEO in the first year, though some clients prefer to negotiate a fixed fee instead, according to search-firm executives who requested anonymity to discuss the inner workings of their firms. With CEO pay skyrocketing — median compensation for the 100 highest-paid CEOs at companies with at least $1 billion in revenue rose 22% to $30.9 million last year, according to pay consultant Equilar — it's not unusual for a big-company search to cost $3 million, according to one executive recruiter who's worked on many CEO searches. A few even reach $5 million. Ousting a CEO can prompt the departures of other senior leaders. One study found that an external CEO hire leads to more than double the rate of C-suite departures than if the new CEO is an internal pick. At Nike, more than half the members of the senior leadership team are new to their jobs since Elliott Hill replaced John Donahoe last year. On top of that, search firms do more than search nowadays: Many tout their 'leadership advisory' services, providing everything from succession planning advice to CEO coaching and onboarding. For that ongoing, longer-term work, they can charge between $250,000 and $500,000 a year, the veteran search consultant said. Then there are lawyers, who handle everything from assuring regulatory compliance to drafting non-compete agreements to hammering out the new CEO's contract. At $2,000 an hour, those costs can sometimes reach into the seven figures. Compensation consultants — like Farient — are often employed to provide guidance and analysis on the CEO's pay package. Crisis communications experts will help get the company's message (or spin) out, often at $1,000 an hour. Clients 'usually want you 25 hours a day and eight days a week,' said Davia Temin, founder and CEO of crisis-communications firm Temin & Co. A CEO ouster and replacement 'will take even more time,' she added. How much more? Temin shrugged: 'I can't even begin to estimate.' The point is, anything can happen, and the advisers' job is to make sure it doesn't leave the boardroom and harm the company's reputation. Dramatic ousters over the decades illustrate the risks. The 2005 firing of Carly Fiorina by the board of Hewlett-Packard Co., soon followed by a spying scandal that involved board chairwoman Patricia Dunn, tarnished the legacy of one of the original pioneers of Silicon Valley. Almost 20 years later, Nike's reputation declined by 6 points on a 100-point scale during its 2024 succession surprise, according to RepTrak, a reputation research and advisory firm. 'Public-company CEO exits often have unanticipated left turns, which require nuanced and thoughtful coordination on several fronts,' Connolly, the lawyer at Cooley, said. 'Legal, investor relations, public communications, human resources, tax and finance elements are usually involved, and the pace of these exits is typically accelerated and unforgiving.' Finally, there's the hit that investors take. A 2015 study by PwC's 'Strategy&' consulting unit estimated that forced turnovers at the world's largest public companies cost each firm an average $1.8 billion in foregone shareholder value. PwC analyzed CEO transitions at 2,500 listed companies across three years to determine the figure, which it calculated from median shareholder returns, relative to the index they traded on, in the year before and after each switch. Its conclusion: 'There's a stark difference between companies able to plan their turnovers and those forced into them.' Another study, by FTI Consulting, found that news of a CEO shake-up made investors more than twice as likely to sell shares in a given company as they were to buy them. And nearly 40% of investors in the same survey said they would sell a stock solely on the basis that a CEO was new. Even if a company's stock price rises when a new CEO is named, as happened at Starbucks, the shares have likely suffered in the months or years leading up to the switch as the company floundered under previous leadership. And don't read too much into any one-day gains when the new CEO is announced: Since Niccol officially started on the job at Starbucks, the coffee chain's shares are essentially unchanged. Starbucks Stock Over Two Leadership Transitions When it comes to CEO ousters 'institutional investors and hedge funds tend to get nervous' that a board under pressure could make another bad pick, said Fuller, the management professor. That anxiety should extend to the board itself. A CEO ouster might signal that the board needs to change its composition, its advisors or its overall approach, according to Ashley Summerfield, leader of the global CEO and board practice at the leadership search and advisory firm Egon Zehnder. There's a cost for that as well, but Summerfield believes it can pay off in the long run. 'A CEO ousting is a window into the governance at a company,' he said. 'It has costs, but what worries me more is companies that don't fix their governance in light of the ousting. If it takes a board three years from the first amber lights flashing to get rid of their CEO, why did it take that long? And why were the lights amber, and not red?' At Kohl's, the board missed warning signals about Buchanan, according to Blue Heron Research Partners, which analyzes management teams on behalf of investors and found that there were concerns about the former CEO's business judgment in prior roles with other retail chains. Now, Kohl's is replacing its CEO for the third time in as many years — an expensive proposition for any big company. Major search firms typically offer to do another search for free if their initial recommendation flames out within the first year of employment. But after the misstep with Buchanan, Kohl's was considering hiring a new search advisor. As the retailer's board weighs its options, sales remain lackluster, along with employee morale, and the stock is well off its price from the start of the year. And no matter who is eventually hired as CEO, there will be another steep price to pay.
CNBC
12 hours ago
- CNBC
From sweet treats to protein boosts, chains are banking on beverages to drive sales
If it feels like there are a lot of new drinks on restaurant menus, it's because there are. Driven by younger consumers who crave customized, cold beverages, chains from Dunkin' to Dutch Bros, Starbucks and McDonald's are answering the call. The number of beverages offered by the top 500 chains has increased by more than 9% in the last year, according to Technomic's 2025 Away-From-Home Beverage Navigator Report. Companies have leaned even more into cold drinks. Offerings like specialty coffees and energy drinks have seen the most growth on menus over the past two years, as hot coffee and tea beverages on menus decline, the market researcher reported in July. What's more, consumers are increasingly heading to a chain simply to get an iced coffee or soda. Last year, the primary driver for beverage sales was "getting a pick-me-up," as 22% said that was their most common reason for going, up from 20% in 2023, the data found. Meanwhile, 20% said they bought a beverage to "wash down food." The two occasions for a purchase switched places from the previous year. "This shift suggests that consumers may be moving toward more beverage-specific occasions, where beverages are the main driver of the foodservice purchase rather than an add-on to go alongside food. This aligns with the influx of beverage-forward concepts in recent years," the report said. Higher drink sales are key for major players as they seek to reverse slumps in a tough consumer environment. McDonald's U.S. restaurants saw same-store sales growth of 2.5% in its second fiscal quarter, reversing two straight quarters of domestic declines as it leaned into buzzy partnerships and value offerings. But executives cautioned low-income consumers remain challenged. While Starbucks also saw better than expected U.S. sales, they still fell 2% from the prior-year period. Trying to capitalize on the desire for buzzy new drinks will bring its own challenges. Technomic forecasts beverage volume will grow 1% through 2029, but the group said it will likely revise that outlook lower. Customers are also more price sensitive, with 61% of consumers who said they noticed price hikes saying they order beverages less often. The success of many new beverage lines will hinge on Gen Z consumers, who have flocked to customized and sugary drinks. Dunkin' saw its colorful and sweet Refreshers platform hit new record highs in the most recent quarter, with unit sales up more than 30% year-on-year. It will release its fall menu later this week and lean further into what Gen Z consumers are seeking. The rollout will feature an expansion of pop star Sabrina Carpenter's Daydream Refresher lineup into Mango and Mixed Berry, along with a Cereal N' Milk Latte, featuring a blend of espresso and real cereal milk that delivers a "nostalgic marshmallow cereal flavor." The curation of drinks is key for customers — and Gen Z consumers in particular, Dunkin' Chief Marketing Officer Jill Nelson told CNBC. It has to feel unique and special in this environment. "On the product side, it's overwhelmingly about cold beverages, customization and bold flavor," Nelson said. "And then on the promotion side ... when we think about Gen Z, this is a generation that grew up on sneaker drops and stories that disappear in 24 hours. So it's all about how do you create new news and interesting flavor combinations that you can't really recreate easily at home and feel like you're in the know when you go to the drive through and order them," she said, adding that the company prioritizes speed and accuracy as customers ask for more customization. The competition will heat up next month as McDonald's enters the beverage category in a more meaningful way. On Sept. 2, McDonald's will launch an expanded market test in 500 restaurants across Wisconsin and Colorado of new drinks that include a "Creamy Vanilla Cold Brew" and "Toasted Vanilla Frappe." In addition, the fast food giant will roll out "dirty sodas" and Strawberry Watermelon Refreshers, aimed at Gen Z consumers. McDonald's created the lineup with learnings from its now-shuttered CosMc's concept, which leaned heavily into customized drinks. "We're seeing real momentum in beverages, with more people – especially our Gen Z fans – turning to cold, flavorful drinks as a go-to treat," said McDonald's USA Chief Customer Experience and Marketing Officer Alyssa Buetikofer in a release. On McDonald's most recent earnings call, CEO Chris Kempczinski said beverages present a "big opportunity" for the brand. "It's growing and it's more profitable than food. So, there's a lot of things to like, which is why us as well as, I think, a few of our competitors are also excited about this," Kempczinski told analysts. He added that while there are value offerings in the beverage space, you can get a lot of "full margin products" that franchisees would not have to discount. The new beverage options go beyond the sweet and bold. Chains also aim to win consumers by tapping into health trends. As Starbucks continues its "Back to Starbucks" turnaround plans under CEO Brian Niccol, it is making more changes to the menu, including a late fourth-quarter launch of protein cold foam. On the company's recent earnings call with analysts, Niccol said the item "taps into what has become one of our most popular modifiers, cold foam, which grew 23% year over year." "Protein Cold Foam with no added sugar is an easy way to add 15 grams of protein to virtually any cold beverage. And customers can also add the flavor of their choice," he said. The coffee giant said it's seeing increases in satisfaction among younger consumers. Niccol told analysts customer value perceptions were near two-year highs in its most recent quarter, driven by gains among Gen Z and millennials, who make up over half of its customer base. It's betting that innovation, coupled with better customer service under its new "Green Apron Service" strategy, will help to boost business. Coffee chain Dutch Bros has leaned into some of those beverage trends to drive strong growth. The chain has been a standout stock performer — up over 22% year-to-date — and saw its same-store sales increase more than 6% in the most recent quarter. CEO Christine Barone said protein milk that launched in 2024 has boosted business. But more broadly, unique and surprising toppings and offerings are a way to engage in a tough competitive landscape, she added. "I think the key with innovation is to really understand when something might be ready to pop, or something might be of high interest, and then be able to move really fast to execute on it well," Barone told CNBC.
