It's been a busy week for you. Earnings calls, investor days, and I was trying to think if there's one ingredient to what investors saw with the positive same-store sales in the US, the improved transactions. Is it faster lines? Is it protein coffee? Is it our friend Tressie Lieberman bringing back glass baristas? Like what was it in the quarter?
Yeah, look, I think it really is a combination of a couple things. One, you know, we really focused on getting the operational excellence back into the stores, and really what that's all about is our Green Apron Service program, which is all about becoming a great customer service company again, and then also setting our partners up so that they have the tools and the time to do their craft and connection with our customers. And I think that's at the foundation for why you saw the transaction growth. And then you mentioned Tressie, you know, she's done a phenomenal job from putting the brand back in culture. And I think leading in culture, from fun things like the glass barista to, you know, my personal favorite now, the protein latte, that really attracted both rewards customers and non-rewards customers to come into Starbucks again. And then when they got in there, they had just a great experience with our partners.
Can you follow up on that one real quick? What's the average wait time now? When you started, what was it, over 5 minutes or so?
It was, so in cafe, unfortunately, we were probably closer to 6 minutes. And now we are below 4 minutes at peak when you come in for the cafe order. If you go through the drive-thru, you'll get in less than 4 minutes during peak. And then obviously on mobile order pickup, we want to be on time and accurate. And that's really what the Green Apron Service model's been all about, is setting our partners up with clear operating standards, but then also giving them the tools and frankly the rosters and the hours to then do their craft and, you know, create that human-to-human connection.
And Brian, the look and the feel of Starbucks is different. And you mentioned yesterday at the investor day that the turnover of a remodeling could just be overnight even. You also got the cost down. So, what can consumers expect as far as the look and the feel goes?
Yeah, look, I'm really excited about this. We're calling it an uplift. You know, I think my grandparents called it a refresh. But look, we need to put great seats into our stores. We need to give you a great atmosphere. And we can do that overnight. You know, we've got really talented designers that are looking at every single store to figure out how we put a great seat back in, give you a great experience where when you come in, it feels warm, it feels welcoming, it's a place you want to stay. Then at the same time, we have a huge opportunity to build a lot more stores in the United States and frankly around the world. And we want to make sure we're building the right store. And so that cafe that we're going to build is going to be just that. It's going to be a warm, welcoming coffee house. In a lot of cases, it'll also have a drive-thru. But we always will have a great coffee house.
And it seems like you're sort of leaning into like the nostalgia factor here. You have the 1971 coffee coming back. You're also having a reserve card. Did you, I don't know if you have your gold card still, but they're coming back out with the black reserve. You have to earn the points. You have to get the points to get it. But it seems like you're leaning into this nostalgia, leaning into Pike Place. One, is that the factor here? Are you leaning into the nostalgia factor? And two, have you talked to Howard Schultz about what you're doing?
You know, well, look, first I would say it's not nostalgia. We're just leaning into the soul of Starbucks. And look, Starbucks started in 1971 in a great little quaint coffee shop, Pike Place. I don't know if you've been to it in Seattle, and we want to bring that to life. And the 1971 dark roast is exactly what that is. And then I think the whole idea on the rewards program is we wanted to make the program more personalized. You know, with the technology now that we have, the use of AI, we can actually be more personalized and give people the rewards that match up with how you interact with the brand. That's why we're going to have the reserve level, the gold level, and the green level. And you know, look, I hope everybody becomes a reserve card-carrying Starbucks holder because that means they are really engaged with the brand and a big fan of the brand. You know, and then look, working at Starbucks, I think it's a real fortunate fact that I have the access to Howard, so I can hear how did this company go from, you know, a handful of coffee shops to 40,000 iconic around-the-world brand. And look, he's been always available and actually he's been a big, big supporter of the team that I put together and the strategy around Back to Starbucks.
I thought this notion of a third place that Howard created was done and dusted. I mean, why do we have time to sit in a Starbucks like we used to and read a book and drink coffee?
You know, look, not all the time, but there are those moments where you do. And I think it is the soul of the brand. I think it is a halo to all those other occasions. And you know, I do also believe people prefer to go into a place than go into a place that's soulless and has no real connection or experience. So whether that's you're going through the drive-thru and you see it through the window, or whether it's a mobile order pickup where remember you're coming into the cafe, you know, I shared this at investor day, just in the last month, 60% of our customers had at least one transaction where they came to our counter. That doesn't include the mobile order pickup. So look, the cafe is a big brand component of who we are. And I also think too, it is human nature, you want to actually connect, even if you want to be by yourself, you prefer to be by yourself with a lot of people around you.
One of the interesting things with coffee chains, and it was I think at a competitor, I saw a slide deck like a decade ago. I think it was Dunkin'. I mean their transactions go right down in the afternoon. Now you said at investor day we're focused on building another peak in the afternoon. How large is that opportunity if you are able to build a strong, consistent afternoon business with wraps, energy drinks, and even dips, different types of matcha tea?
Yeah, look, I think the afternoon is a multibillion-dollar opportunity for us. You know, I think we set out initially to win the morning. We're actually doing that. We already have an afternoon business, but I just believe we are not totally bright on what the menu both in food and beverage needs to be. And I think now with a great cafe, people actually have a reset moment in the afternoon. You know, some days you're on your way to go get a workout, so you need protein, right? Or maybe you need more energy. Or other days you're like, man, I'm having a day and you're going to enjoy a Frappuccino. But it's like we can have the food, we can have the beverage for that reset in the afternoon. If you actually look around the world, everybody around the world has a reset moment. And I think the United States will actually really appreciate having a reset moment. And I think we can do that with our capabilities around beverages and food. And you know, I think we can have a peak that's just as powerful in the afternoon that we have in the morning.
Brian, you're also at this moment in time where consumers are using GLP-1s. About 25% of US households have at least one GLP-1 user. When you think about innovating with protein, how difficult would that be for you to do with your supply chain? It's not like people are cutting up ingredients like they were at Chipotle.
Well, you know, look, I think actually we're positioned really well for this because what I've noticed and as I've understood the behaviors associated with people that ultimately are on GLP-1s, you end up with more snacking or smaller meals and more protein-forward, more fiber-forward. And so we can do those things. And then also, you know, look, I think complementing food with a drink like that is right in the wheelhouse of that trend of using GLP-1. So, that's another reason why I'm really optimistic. You know, if we can start doing more protein-forward solutions. I think you might have heard Tressie mention protein balls and potentially wraps that are a little bit more protein-forward.
