Starbucks announced that it is replacing CEO Laxman Narasimhan with Brian Niccol, the chairman and CEO of the fast-food restaurant chain Chipotle, amid a plunge in sales, Anadolu reports.

Niccol will take the helm on Sept 9 while Narasimhan is stepping down immediately, the company said in a statement.

The move comes after the US-based global coffeehouse chain saw a decline in sales for the second consecutive quarter, including falling demand in the US and China — its two biggest markets.

North America store sales fell 2 per cent and US store sales were off by 2pc in the April-June period of 2024, according to the company’s financial results statement released July 30.

Stores in the US and China comprised 61pc of the company’s global portfolio at the end of that period, according to financial results.