Starbucks buys Italian bakery to boost food offering

Starbucks, increasingly counting on food sales to help maintain growth, has announced plans to invest in an Italian bakery business, which it intends to expand with new locations.

The world’s biggest coffee-shop chain is buying a stake in Princi, which sells pastries, pizza and pasta in Europe, according to a statement.

Starbucks will also act as a global licensee of the Italian company, helping it to expand globally. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.