Bay Area coffee enthusiasts champion local chain Peet’s Coffee as the first craft coffee provider in the US. But it was Starbucks, founded five years later by Peet’s trainees, that became the world’s biggest coffee chain. Continued growth means rivals have little hope of replicating its global footprint.   

Starbucks has more than 33,833 locations, including licensed stores. It sees room for many more. The Seattle-based coffee company expects to open 2,000 new spots this year, many overseas. Sales rose 31 per cent in the last quarter in part because the chain opened more than 500 new stores in the period.

What those stores look like is changing, however. A new partnership with AmazonGo, Amazon’s cashless grocery shops, is part of a broader move away from large restaurants to more pick-up coffee spots and drive-throughs. Instead of focusing on barista service, these prioritise rapid transactions in the hopes of increasing customer visits.