Starbucks' staff training

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Starbucks are now training baristas on stammering

How Starbucks responded to our campaign to make its services more accessible for people who stammer.

In our 2023 members survey, many of you told us that ordering in restaurants and coffee shops was a real barrier to your everyday lives.

Many of you cited Starbucks as a particular cause for concern, with their policy of asking for customers' names to write on cups.

We contacted Starbucks to highlight the issue and for International Stammering Awareness Day in 2024 we encouraged members to get involved and send our open letter to their local branch.

To their credit, Starbucks responded and agreed to work with us to become more inclusive for customers who stammer.

An industry-first move

Two years later in September 2026, in partnership with STAMMA, Starbucks launched a tailored training programme for its coffeehouse teams. 

Integrated directly into Starbucks UK's gamified training platform, the module offers baristas hands-on, interactive scenarios. Baristas learn essential facts about stammering and the common misconceptions surrounding speech differences. They navigate simulated customer scenarios, earning points for supportive responses and receiving constructive feedback to refine their approach. The training builds empathy, active listening and communication skills that baristas can carry with them far beyond their time at Starbucks.

Designed to help baristas better support customers with speech differences, the initiative has already been completed by over 10,000 staff, more than half of Starbucks UK's 18,000 baristas. Watch the video below.