EUROPE indirect spending for Starbucks EMEA , covering all COGS , operational and capital spend to support a business that generates over $ 1bn in revenue annually . The Dutch native came to Starbucks with logistics and sourcing experience in Europe and Asia and quickly recognised the challenge .

“ It was important that we brought together how all of our partners were sourcing ; there was a lot of good work being done , but we felt that there was a lack of consistency and that perhaps the right tools were not being used consistently . The various partners were also reporting into a number of different managers so we perhaps were not maximising our output as a team ,” comments Van der Zande from the company ’ s hub in Amsterdam .

“ We thought about how we could benefit from using standard systems and processes and really look to professionalise the sourcing function . A large part of that was to free up our senior people from admin as there was evidence that it was very time consuming for a lot of them . Another important piece of work was the

A great deal of the success of the sourcing team is down to its talent and diversity , according to Van der Zande . “ Having a lot of good people , good talents with the right mindset is absolutely critical . I believe the sourcing function really will change through the years from much more internally focused and looking at cost towards more of an ‘ outside-in ’ and relationship management focus .

“ I think with that it brings a different mindset , and also a different skillset that is required . It means having the right people that embrace change is just crucial to the success of sourcing teams . On top of that , in my view another enabler to team success is having real diversity in the team . I would describe diversity in different ways – it ’ s either about cultural backgrounds , but it ’ s also about gender , it ’ s about age , and I think by looking at the right balance in your team from a diversity perspective , you get better sourcing teams .”

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