Lots of people have talked about the “test Frappuccinos” in Dallas, Texas. It’s been a long test of the new and customizable Frappuccino, offering Starbucks customers the chance to try a soy Frappuccino, whole milk, or any other milk option, with much greater power in the hands of the customer to modify the drink as desired. The test in Dallas, Texas has been ongoing long enough that there have been occasional threads on mystarbucksidea.com about it.
Of course, it makes good sense that this is a long test. If Starbucks is really going to overhaul a beverage as iconic as the Frappuccino, they have to make sure they know what they’re doing. Starbucks boasts 40 million customers a week pass through their doors. For many people – for MILLIONS of customers – when a person says the word “Starbucks” a mental image of a domed-lid plastic cup, whip cream, and a Frappuccino comes to mind, not a cup of Verona. This is the reality. It is what it is. Starbucks and Frappuccino are so deeply associated with each other, like McDonalds and Big Mac, or Sunkist and oranges, or Quaker and oatmeal.
Recently, StarbucksMelody heard very loose gossip that the test of customizable Frappuccinos is expanding. In just a few weeks, so I hear, Starbucks customers of Vermont (somewhere in Vermont) will get their chance to try this new-fangled Frappuccino. It doesn’t surprise me that the test is expanding. It goes back to the company being thorough in testing before launching something as dramatic as this. It does surprise me that Vermont is getting the new Frappuccinos in the middle of Winter. I guess if Vermont can sell Frappuccinos in the middle of January, they’ll sell anywhere, any time. Surely it must be cold there right now!
What do you think of the new Frappuccino? Do you like the idea of overhauling the Frappuccino?
[[ Edit on January 1, 2010 – By random luck, a barista on the east coast sent me an image of some Frappuccino syrup that his store accidentally got. He states that his store has never been part of the new customizable Frappuccinos. The syrup simply arrived with a shipment of stuff, with no sku, and was not ordered by the store. We know that the “Frappuccino syrup” is part of the new customizable Frappuccinos referenced in this blog post and so I want to share the image of the syrup with you:
]]
24 Comments
Comments are closed.
Socialize
Having lived near the Vermont/New York border for a short time, there’s no reason that they should be testing that there. I’ve never seen a lot of snow until I lived there. I swear it snowed every day during winter there.
Makes sense to test different areas around the country. And if they want to speed up the process of rolling out this customizable frappuccino, I guess that means rolling it out during cold months. We still sell quite a few frappuccinos during the winter, even while snowing. Customers are pretty used to the new frappuccinos now, too, in Dallas. In fact, sometimes I’m worried that when they travel they’ll be confused about the incongruity.
Side note: the soluble coffee base of the customizable frappuccino is changing so that it includes Italian Roast instead of Espresso Roast.
When are they going to bring the test Frapps to Seattle? It seems to me we’re one city that’s gotten the hang of ordering a customized drink.
You’re right… If they can sell in Vermont in the middle of January, they’ve got a good product on their hands. I just hope they take weather/timing into account if it doesn’t sell.
Nothing says winter in Vermont quite like a delicious soy-based icy cold Frappuccino blended with ice.
I know that other barista’s from around the country will chime in when they do roll it out nation wide due to the fact that instead of a 4 step process (mix, mocha, ice, blend for a MF) in the “Lean” system this now takes 12 steps for a grande size (Frap Roast base x3, Shots if Decaf, milk, mocha x3, Frap syrup x3, ice, blend.) The only thing with being able to customize it down to the number of pumps, etc is that no more labor is given when it logically takes more time to accomplish. That seems to be the “LEAN” way of the company. same expectation, less time/tools for completion. I do know that if the roll out is nation wide at anytime, then they better have a BUTT load of Frap syrup because U can go through a bottle in less than one hour on a busy afternoon when the kids get out of school. I am glad U got to enjoy Ur first custom one is TX on a warm Oct afternoon.
I have to admit that I’m “old school” and a “core” type of person. I remember when the Frappuccinos first launched and they did NOT have dome lids. Admittedly, I actually liked the fact that they did not have dome lids loaded up with whipped creme and drizzle as it distinguished Starbucks from the Gloria Jeans of the world who added flavors to their beans and offered “froo froo” beverages with domed lids. Frappuccinos were a new way to get a great coffee treat and were surprisingly simple and not that bad for you compared to the dessert-in-a-cup offerings like those offered at rival Gloria Jeans.
Of course, somewhere down the road, the dome lid arrived at the Siren and the rest is history…
No soy for me, thank you. Wonder if they taste any better than the Sorbettos?
I like the idea of having a soy frap. I think offering a frap with your choice of milk/soy is a good thing. Especially for those with dietary needs 😀
Well, I’m not really the demographic on this one. I’ve always stayed away from iced espresso drinks because of the calories. I have a hard enough time staying away from mochas during cold weather. Any time the thermometer dips below 65, it’s “mocha weather” to me!
Melody,
I’ve tried soy due to a lactose intolerance I’ve developed and I just can’t get used to it. I know a lot of people love it, but IDK. Just don’t think it’s for me 🙁
soy frap? doesn’t sound too appealing to me…going to stick to my regular light frapacino
Melody,
I’m so excited to have found your blog! It looks great! I was looking through you posts and I have that Starbucks cookbook that you have! I bought in on the reduced table at Barnes and Noble a few years back. I look forward to reading more of your posts.
Fraps hav never been too appealing to me. I find them too rich and sweet so maybe the customizable ones would be better.
I did like the chocolate mint frap pretty well, but they haven’t had that one for a couple of years, I think.
It’s a good idea to offer a diary-free alternative as there are many people out there that are lactose-intolerant.
Happy New Year!
I’m a sbux Barista downtown and I think the development and test for this is to cut down on the Frap base wastage in addition to allow more customization. During a winters day not many people in downtown Seattle get Frapps (I work at a high volume store btw). At the end of the day barely even a quarter of the frap base that was made was used and we are forced to dump it. With this we can make enough for the frapps that we do get without all the waste.
as a barista I have mixed feelings on this.
I like the idea that it’s more customizable, but can’t imagine how much more labour each one will take!
It also makes me wonder if, since we can adjust it a little more accurately, we’d start having to make kid’s sized ones, which I really am not liking because our kids drink enough sugar without this option!
by the way, I don’t think marketing a cold beverage in winter in Vermont is ludicrous at all. I live in a much colder climate and we still sell quite a few frapps on a daily basis. People who like them like them no matter what time of year.
I tried these fraps yesterday. I was repulsed. Lol, it tasted like I was drinking alcohol with the syrop. I prefer the “real white chocolate liquid” rather than tainted syrop flavor. Also, they fill the liquid in your cup before then blender then re-use the same cup to pour your drink back into it making the whole thing instantly liquidy. (Of course you can request a different cup for your fblended frap, but then you’re wasting 2 cups!)
I spend $5.20 everyday on a white mocha frappucino, but thank god I will no longer have to pay starbuck $80 from each paycheck as I will not be buying these anymore should the traditional white mocha syrop not be available. I hope it is still there for the hot drinks and I will jsut request that, but maybe this will replace that as well.
Hi Eddie S! I don’t know how you found my site, but WELCOME! You can also post about the new Frappuccinos in my most recent thread, which is an “open thread”. The new Frappuccinos soft-launch in Seattle on April 19th so I had been holding off on writing about them until then. So far my own experience with the new Frappuccinos has been just fine, but I admit, I only order them rarely as a treat.
One more thing, though I hope you will continue to participate at my little community here, I want to point you in the right direction of the official Starbucks blogs on the new Frappuccino:
http://blogs.starbucks.com/blogs/customer/archive/2010/03/19/coming-soon-however-you-want-it-frappuccino-174-blended-beverage.aspx
@Eddie…the white mocha syrup has not changed at all, the base has, but the white mocha is the same.
I didn’t know about the change in the mix and got a mocha frap light today. It was really bad. I don’t drink artificial sweetners and this think reeked of chemicals. It’s a very bad move on Starbuck’s part. Check out the chat on starbucks community site and there’s a huge amount of negative reaction to the change. And those are just the people who bother to look for this area of the starbucks site. Many more will vote with their feet. This change is a huge error of judgement.
Hi Pat! I’m sorry you don’t like the new Frappuccino. I know that I am really enjoying it! There is another more recent thread about it from just this week (April 19th) – Hope you’ll take a look at that too. Welcome to the blog. Do you have a link to share with the “chat” or do you mean mystarbucksidea.com? In any event, I welcome you to post again, with a link, in the 4-19 thread.
I have to say, as a Starbucks Manager, a lot of the feedback I’m reading here is just a little bit misinformed. One of the main reasons for the switch to this new system was to do away with artificial flavors and our bases are now completely natural, even in the light which is made with a natural substance called truvia.
I’d say getting rid of the HFCS was only one of the reasons. Customization was a much bigger reason for the change. Soy, decaf and so forth. btw, no stevia products in Canada, so ours are still made with splenda (thank goodness!). It’s not legal here yet, and I hope it never is.
Hello Faith, welcome to my blog! Hope you’ll poke around at some of the other threads here and join in. I think perhaps it is time that I close this thread. This is an old Frappuccino thread, and we’ve had some better conversations, more recently.
I have maintained over and over again that there wasn’t really ONE main reason for the switch. Starbucks has talked about over and over again this need to reach out to people who wanted variety of milks in their Frappuccino. Even just yesterday that was mentioned at the Quarterly Conference call.
I don’t even consider the Frappuccino switch to be “good” or “bad” or that everyone should like them … That’s so silly. Taste is subjective. Some people have a taste in mind that they love and it is the old Frappuccino. You can’t blame them for having those taste buds. Some customers will be lost over this switch. At the same time, I personally have been supportive of the switch to the new Frappuccinos. It has nothing to do with it being healthy (meaning at least for me it doesn’t have to do with being healthy) – People want what tastes good – But over time there is incredible room for growth of the business with the Frappuccino as many new drinkers come into the store and add to the sales … Those people who did want true customization.
Sorry Faith that was a bit of a long and overwhelming answer. Hope you’ll find some of our other conversations at this site to be interesting. There is a ton of coffee information! I highly recommend the blog post on Sumatra, and I highly suggest learning about coffee cuppings (not the same thing as a tasting), and I recommend any of the threads about barista art. Oh and there have been some great threads on Starbucks cards … I love the history behind the “twilight” card which is the Starbucks located on 1st and Battery in Seattle.
Melody
@CaBarista – Thanks for jumping in. You had some of the same points as me, but said it in a much shorter way. I was though just reminded about this high demand for beverage customization – It was something that Cliff Burrows talked about at yesterday’s analyst call:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/215753-starbucks-corporation-f3q10-qtr-end-06-30-10-earnings-call-transcript?part=qanda