Starbucks needs you to rein in highly customized drink orders—’We have some cleanup to do,’ CEO Brian Niccol says

Both customers and baristas have complained for years about highly customized drinks and the delays they can cause in getting orders out efficiently. In an effort to meet Niccol’s goal of getting every order in the customer’s hands in four minutes or less, the company wants to simplify customizations.

To make things easier for customers and employees, the company will add “commonsense guardrails” to customizations on its mobile app, Niccol said during Starbucks’ fiscal fourth-quarter earnings call Wednesday. He added that the company’s current mobile custom-ordering system causes headaches for both customers and baristas.

“One, it’s complicated for the customer to get through it. And then, two, we kind of incentivize people to customize drinks that probably aren’t the best way to execute the drink. Not to mention, it creates additional complexity for our partners to execute the drink. So we have some cleanup to do, is the way I would describe it,” Niccol said. 

These changes will improve consistency as well as help eliminate price tag surprises for highly customized drink orders that could be more expensive than a regular drink, the CEO said.

Starbucks’ menu changes aren’t just affecting drinks; the coffee chain’s food options are also due for a revamp. Niccol said in order to focus on quality over variety, Starbucks will cut some of its food items.

“I do think we’re going to be much better at food if we do fewer things on the food front in a better quality fashion,” he said.

A spokesperson for Starbucks told Fortune in a statement that the coffee chain was cutting down its menu to align with its core identity as a coffee company.

“We continue to offer customers great choice. By focusing on fewer, better products we expect this to improve throughput, quality, and consistency,” the spokesperson said. 

Apart from the menu changes, Starbucks will also bring back condiment bars filled with milk and sugar to its stores beginning next year. The condiment bars were largely eliminated from Starbucks locations following the COVID-19 pandemic. 

To get in-store orders out as fast as possible, Niccol wants a simple drip coffee to be ready almost as soon as you order it and handed to you by the cashier. Customers can then…