What Starbucks Employees Actually Do To Prepare Your Food

Love it or hate it, Starbucks is the world's largest coffee chain with more than 32,000 stores in 80 countries. And if you've been to any of those locations, you know there's no secret baker in the back creating fresh croissants from scratch. What many fans probably don't realize is that the chain's food preparation is highly centralized, meaning its premade breakfast sandwiches and baked goods are prepared by a catering or food manufacturer off-site and shipped (usually frozen) to the stores in batches. When Starbucks employees prepare your food order, they simply grab it and warm it up if needed. 

This system exists because the average Starbucks location is simply not built like a full restaurant kitchen. Although Starbucks began selling food way back in 2003, most stores have items that require minimal prep time, and are largely designed around beverage production and speed. Freezing and shipping its snacks from centralized locations allows Starbucks to ensure its best breakfast sandwiches taste the same across thousands of stores while minimizing food prep and labor. 

According to current and former baristas online, pastries are commonly shipped frozen, thawed overnight, and served either as-is or warmed to order. One Reddit user explains: "Zero food is cooked at Starbucks. Every single food item is made elsewhere and prepackaged for your consumption. Starbucks is a cafe. The only thing they make on site is coffee. There is no kitchen 'in the back.'" Another employee adds: "Pastries are pulled from the freezer daily and stored at room temp for a max of two days, except for a few that can be stored longer."

Starbucks certainly isn't the only fast food chain to use a heating appliance to warm your food so that it tastes fresh. Subway, McDonald's, and Dairy Queen also partake in heated technology. However, while some fast food chains use microwaves to get the deed done, Starbucks' warming system is much more sophisticated (and expensive) than your standard home microwave. One employee explains, "It's something between a toaster oven and a microwave." 

Many Starbucks locations use high-speed ovens by a brand called TurboChef, which has also been adopted by other quick-service chains like Panera, Dunkin', and Chili's. The rapid-cook oven combines convection heat, hot air, and microwave technology to heat food quickly while still giving the exterior that much-needed crisp. Not all employees love the brand, however. Some complain the touch screen is finicky, while others bemoan how difficult they are to clean. On Reddit, one employee noted, "I don't like the touch screen. It doesn't capture my punches half the time, I have to press pretty hard to get it to work. Miss the old ovens, ngl." Another employee commented: "Terrible to clean, but they do look nice."

The TurboChef oven is praised for its faster cooking abilities, but this can sometimes backfire. It's why some customers avoid the quesadillas at Chili's, because they often arrive blackened and burned. Despite all this, Starbucks egg bites, sandwiches, and pastries remain hugely popular, if only because the convenience factor is hard to beat. So the next time you order a Starbucks croissant, keep in mind you're patronizing a streamlined global chain, not Ina Garten's favorite Parisian bakery.