Starbucks picks new CEO, outlines Howard Schultz's future

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Starbucks announces new CEO amid growing unionization efforts

Laxman Narasimhan speaks in Peru. Photo: Guillermo Gutierrez/Bloomberg via Getty Images will become ' new chief executive officer, the company announced Thursday. The big picture: Narasimhan, who will fully replace interim CEO Howard Schultz, will join as the company deals with a growing number of unions amid a massive labor movement. Details: Starbucks said Narasimhan will start as incoming CEO on Oct. 1.Narasimhan, a former senior executive at PepsiCo, most recently worked with Reckitt, a consumer-health company, per the .Schultz will step down as interm CEO on April 1 of next year, the company said. He will stay on as an advisor to Narasimhan through 2023 and will remain on the company's board of directors thereafter. What they're saying: “We were looking for somebody that was a true servant leader that had a deep sense of humility,” Schultz told the “Laxman first and foremost is a true servant leader.”Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, tells Axios that Narasimhan will inherit a company that faces a number of challenges, "including increased union activity and a modest weakening of the bottom line where operating margin is under pressure." State of play: Narasimhan joins as the company has been experiencing a massive push toward unionization.More than stores have joined the . previously said the coffee company has been " assaulted, in many ways, by the threat of unionization."Starbucks has spoken out against in the U.S. The company has been accused of . Thought bubble via Axios' Hope King: Schultz, when he took over in April this year, promised transformation — a for a coffee chain facing massive competition, unhappy investors and disgruntled workers. By the time Narasimhan steps up next April, he’ll likely start with worker relations. Go deeper:

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