Starbucks slips as drinkers experiment with other coffees

Americans are drinking more coffee than they have in decades. But fewer of them are getting it from Starbucks.

- BY DEE-ANN DURBIN

The company that revolutionized the United States' coffee culture remains America's biggest player, with nearly 17,000 U.S. stores and plans to open hundreds more. But it's facing unprecedented competition, which will make it harder to win back the customers it already lost.

Starbucks' share of spending at all U.S. coffee shops fell in 2024 and 2025; it now stands at 48%, down from 52% in 2023, according to Technomic, a food industry consulting firm. Dunkin', a perennial rival that just opened its 10,000th U.S. store, gained market share in both of those years.

Starbucks has other challengers, like the fastgrowing drive-through chains 7 Brew, Scooter's Coffee and Dutch Bros. Chinese chains like Luckin Coffee and Mixue are opening U.S. stores. High-end coffee shop Blue Bottle, which has 78 U.S. stores, has opened two more since the start of the year.

Even McDonald's and Taco Bell are bolstering their beverage offerings.

"People haven't fallen out of love with Starbucks, but they're now polyamorous in their coffee choices," said Chris Kayes, chair of the management department in the George Washington University School of Business.

"People are now experimenting with other coffees, and they're seeing what's out there."

Caffeination nation

Americans love coffee. In both 2024 and 2025, an estimated 66% of Americans reported drinking coffee every day, up from 62% in 2020, according to the National Coffee Assn., an industry trade group.

Coffee chains are racing to cash in on that demand.

The number of chain coffee stores in the U.S. jumped 19% to more than 34,500 over the last six years, according to Technomic, a consulting firm that researches the food service industry.

Seattle-based Starbucks was a small, regional chain when former CEO Howard Schultz acquired it in 1987.