The Pumpkin Spice Latte is helping Starbucks turn things around

• Starbucks' annual Pumpkin Spice launch provided "record-breaking" sales, CEO Brian Niccol said.
• Fall typically represents a busy sales time for the coffee chain.
• This year's launch was particularly critical, with Starbucks in the midst of a turnaround effort.

Starbucks's turnaround effort has a crisp, fall breeze at its back thanks to its Pumpkin Spice Lattes.

This year's slate of fall beverages, which Starbucks launched on Tuesday, helped "deliver a record-breaking sales week across our US company-operated stores," CEO Brian Niccol said in a message sent to employees, which was obtained by Bloomberg. This fall's lineup includes beverages far beyond the standard Pumpkin Spice Latte, such as an Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai.

Starbucks has offered pumpkin spice-flavored items since 2003, and the reintroduction of those beverages each year marks one of the chain's busiest periods.

Starbucks did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

The early pumpkin spice results are a sign that Starbucks' turnaround effort might be bearing fruit.

Niccol, who previously improved financial results at Mexican grill chain Chipotle and Taco Bell, joined Starbucks as CEO a year ago. Since then, the Seattle-based chain has made a series of changes, from streamlining its menu to limiting its store bathrooms to paying customers.

Among the changes has been adding more shifts for Starbucks baristas. Niccol has said that he wants to make Starbucks a more inviting place for customers, including by offering more personal connections between customers and baristas, as well as improving efficiency behind the bar.

Starbucks has added those shifts over the last few months — just in time for the company's annual pumpkin spice launch, Niccol said on a company earnings call in July.

"There's going to be a lot of customers that come into our business" during fall and the final months of the year, Niccol said on the call.