Howard Schultz says he has devoted a chapter to China in his new book. Provided to China Daily

Starbucks CEO outlines remarkable resurgence of the coffee giant in his new book

When Howard Schultz returned as Starbucks CEO in 2008 after an eight-year hiatus, the coffee chain was facing an avalanche of problems.

Its stock fell 42 percent in 2007, creating huge headaches for the now $10-billion (6.75-billion-euro) company. Meanwhile, its reputation as a culturally respectful purveyor of the world's finest coffee was taking a battering, compounded by the effects of the global recession. Stores were mushrooming, but the brand's strength was being diluted.

"There was a feeling inside Starbucks that we were invincible, but we weren't," Schultz says of the gold rush that saw the Seattle, Washington-based company rapidly expand to its current 17,000 stores. When the global credit crunch hit, it had to shutter 100s of newly opened stores.

He spoke about the company's former dip in fortunes in Shanghai in April at the launch of the international tour for his new book, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for its Life Without Losing its Soul.

Starbucks' fall from grace was symbolized in China by a blog and media-led campaign to boot its relatively small and incongruous store from Beijing's 600-year-old Forbidden City, after it had enjoyed six years of brisk business there. Although initially popular with punters, the outlet was ultimately demonized as a symbol of American cultural power.

Some compared its "invasion" of China's national treasure to America's bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during the 1999 Kosovo crisis. Others asked why the guardians of the Palace Museum could not have installed a traditional Chinese tea shop instead.