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Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson is discussing the company's long-term planning and focus on building an "enduring company" at the start of the company's annual meeting of shareholders.

Starbucks leadership will unveil progress and plans on sustainability at the company's annual meeting of shareholders, noting that sustainable coffee, served sustainably is an area of particular passion for Starbucks and its more than 380,000 partners around the world. Over the next year in several markets worldwide, the company will trial new, greener cups. Starbucks will roll out new lightweight, recyclable strawless lids to all stores in the United States and Canada in the next year. This is a key milestone as the company works to phase out plastic straws from its more than 30,000 stores worldwide by 2020, eliminating more than 1 billion straws a year - a goal that was announced last July. Newly redesigned, lightweight recyclable strawless lids will roll out this summer to Starbucks locations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Indianapolis and Toronto, while the rest of the U.S. and Canada will receive them by early 2020. The new lids have 9% less plastic than the current lid and straw. Starbucks will preview a feature for the Starbucks mobile app that shows its coffee beans' journey from bean to cup.

Starbucks says, "In the largest shareholder meeting in company history, Starbucks celebrates transformative year in fiscal 2018, highlighted by double digit growth in topline revenue of $24.7B, up 10% over the prior year; reaffirms ongoing growth algorithm of consolidated revenue growth of 7% to 9% and non-GAAP earnings per share growth of at least 10%." Starbucks also unveiled plans to modernize the Starbucks Experience with a focus on three key attributes: "convenience, comfort and connection."Announced $100M cornerstone investment in Valor Siren Ventures to accelerate innovation in "new retail." "On the heels of a fiscal year of unprecedented growth and revenues of more than $24.7 billion, the company has returned $14 billion towards its previously announced commitment to return $25 billion to shareholders in the form of share buybacks and dividends over a three-year period through fiscal 2020. As part of this commitment, the company entered into a $2 billion accelerated share repurchase program of the company's common stock. Initial delivery of shares represents approximately 80% of the total shares estimated to be repurchased under the ASR, which is expected to be completed no later than June 2019."

Starbucks Corporation announced its investment in the new Valor Siren Ventures I L.P. , which will serve as a growth driver for the next generation of food and retail start-up technology companies. Managed by Valor Equity Partners, the new fund will identify and invest in companies that are developing technologies, products, and solutions relating to food or retail. These verticals are increasingly relevant to Starbucks as it seeks to support its world-class talent with an innovation agenda accelerated by external relationships. The Starbucks $100M cornerstone commitment to VSV is the first of its kind for the company, and the new fund will seek to raise an additional $300M in the coming months from other strategic partners and key institutional investors. Separately, Starbucks will also explore direct commercial arrangements with these start-ups.