Surrounded by centuries-old olive oil trees just outside the small Sicilian town of Partanna, Howard Schultz made a bold prediction: “People are going to add a tablespoon of Partanna extra-virgin olive oil into their drink,” the then-CEO of Starbucks said last year. “I’m sure of it.”
The drink, called an Oleato, isn’t just Schultz’s brainchild. It’s also a side investment.
Starbucks buys all of its olive oil from that plantation in Partanna, whose controlling family sold a 19% stake to Schultz in 2023, according to US and Italian corporate filings and people familiar with the matter. Starbucks paid the company, now named Partanna after its Sicilian hometown, $26.5 million between October 2022 and September 2023.
