SEATTLE (AP) - Starbucks is introducing a new automated espresso machine and getting back to grinding beans in its stores as the coffee retailer seeks to re-energize its slumping business.

Facing thousands of shareholders eager to hear the company's plans, Starbucks Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Howard Schultz on Wednesday announced the arrival of the Mastrena, a new machine designed to leave a smaller margin for error in pulling shots and steaming milk.

While likely to disappoint some longing for the return of old-school manual machines, the Mastrena is about seven inches shorter than the machines in stores now, which will make it easier for baristas to interact with customers.

"It's not just a piece of equipment," Schultz said of machine made by Thermoplan, the same Swiss company that makes Starbucks' current machines. "It's an unbelievable tool that will provide us with the highest-quality, consistent shot of espresso that will be second to none."

Schultz also announced Starbucks has bought a small Seattle company that makes a machine that brews coffee much like a French press. The Clover, made by The Coffee Equipment Company, is already in use in some Seattle and Boston stores and will appear in others soon, though the company did not disclose details on when and where.

Starbucks will soon introduce a new "everyday" drip coffee - a signature brew called Pike Place Roast that baristas will serve up daily in all its stores, rather than offering new blends from day to day.

"As we talked to customers over the last year, what we heard was that the morning occasion was very, very habitual and they want a taste they can count on, and OK, once in a while I might choose something different and go on an adventure, but 90 percent of the time, I just want to go and get my great cup of coffee," Michelle Gass, senior vice president of global strategy, said in an interview before the meeting.

Customers will have two other choices for drip coffee: one other caffeinated variety and one decaf.

Andrew Linnemann, director of green coffee quality and operations, said his staff has spent the past month working 24 hours a day to perfect Pike Place Roast, named for the company's first store in Seattle's storied public market.

Gass and Harry Roberts, Starbucks' chief creative officer, described it as a smooth, sweet, buttery-tasting blend - one that people who usually take their cup of joe with cream and sugar like black.

"We all love this coffee - we can't get enough of it," Gass said.

Pike Place Roast will only be produced and sold by the whole bean to preserve flavor freshness.

It's the first coffee made entirely of beans purchased through the company's sustainable growing practices program - its version of fair trade, shade-grown and organic. Starbucks currently buys about 65 percent of its beans from farms that win higher prices for doing things like paying its pickers well and growing their coffee without using pesticides.

Starbucks announced a renewed five-year commitment with Conservation International to fight global warming by supporting farmers who preserve forests in coffee regions. The program will begin with two sites in Sumatra, Indonesia, and Chiapas, Mexico.

The company will quit using flavor-locked bags of pre-ground coffee next month. Instead, it will grind beans in most of its U.S. stores to bring back the aroma that's been missing since it started using sealed grounds years ago.

In an interview before the meeting, Gass said the expects the change will improve sales, which have been slipping amid a softening economy and growing competition from cheaper rivals.

Starbucks' stock has been falling steadily for more than a year, losing more than half its value since late 2006, when it was trading at close to $40 a share. Shares were trading at $17.75, down 49 cents, Wednesday afternoon.

Most retailers have taken a serious hit amid a downturn in the housing market, rising gasoline and food prices, and a widening credit crunch.

But Schultz, who was recrowned as CEO in January after Starbucks forced out his predecessor, Jim Donald, has argued that Starbucks' bigger problem was that it spent the last few years focusing too much on growth and not enough on coffee and customers.

To get a better idea of what customers want, the company is launching its first-ever social networking site. Chris Bruzzo, Starbucks' chief information officer, said mystarbucksidea.com will be "about sharing ideas, voting, getting into a conversation about sharing those ideas, then putting those idea into action."

To keep customers loyal, Starbucks is adding new rewards for people who use the company's reloadable purchase card to buy their lattes and scones. Beginning in mid-April, the company will pay for any syrups or whipped cream people request with customized espresso drink. It will also offer cardholders free refills and a complimentary drink of their choice if they buy a bag of coffee beans.

Starbucks has made several other moves in recent months hoping to re-energize business, from scaling back growth in the U.S. and closing poorly performing stores to rolling out limited free wireless Internet access in most U.S. stores beginning this spring. It has also tested $1 "short" cups of drip with free refills in Seattle to see if a discount can lure in penny-pinching customers.

Schultz said more changes are in the works, including an entry into the fast-growing energy-drink market later this year.