A few districts of stores in Arizona and also on the East coast are the site of the latest Starbucks food test: It’s called the “mini” test. Small-sized food items at a small price. And look at these photos! They look amazingly delicious! I really want to try those cupcakes right this very minute. This test began just two days ago on October 5, 2010, and I don’t know how long it is scheduled to last. I have been told that one item is usually price around $1.50 and some items are two for $2.50. In addition, I have heard that the calorie count of each item is below 200 calories.
This is one of those blog posts that is all about the pictures. I have not tried these little treats and I wish I had a reason to travel to Arizona! I have very little information about the test on the East coast but I am told that a few stores have the same “mini” treat test. I am always fascinated by the many items “tested” by Starbucks, many of which never launch nationally. Some of you may recall that my very first blog post was on the Honey Vanilla Vivanno which failed to launch nationally having been tested in Sacramento, California. It was delicious too!
If you like reading about test products, check out the link below for more blog posts at StarbucksMelody.com on tests at Starbucks:
If anyone here is familiar with this test and can add more information about it, or can comment on the quality of the little treats please weigh in! And as always, your comments are welcome!
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I was just up in New England (maybe not considered true East coast) but saw no new mini products nor back home either. Wow, it would be so nice and the mini cupcakes look great. Too bad there are not any stores listed where you can get these treats.
OMG I am so happy that someone posted about this. I tried them a few days ago and OMG everything is delicious. I begged for nutrition info but they wouldn’t give me any because its a test and I can’t find any other info about it online except for this blog post! Cake pops = to die for — sooooo guilty pleasure. I tried one of everything (they have a deal for buy 5 get 1 free) and there was nothing at all to complain about. It was all perfect. I want to know the nutrition facts so bad! Where did you hear that each item was under 200 calories???
Hi Brandy! Welcome to the blog! Sorry I don’t know any nutrition information. The same source that gave me the photos also provided me with some information in the article, but I’m not going to reveal my sources. It is a little odd that as far as I know this article is the ONLY article on the web on this topic. Often when Starbucks does a test of something, a local paper might pick it up first, as some local journalist or blogger stumbles upon it at their local store. Thank you for leaving the comment, and I hope you’ll poke around other parts of this blog too. Melody
@nicola actually the espresso brownie bar only has 250 or 260. But that’s from memory. It might be a regional goodie? not sure.
I am a partner at a store with the Starbucks Minis and ALL of them are 200 calories or less. It was clearly stated on the information they set out before launching(Barista Need to Know).
Everytime I look at the photos, my mouth starts to water! lol. Thanks for answering my question Melody. Right now we have smoothies being tested in a couple of places around Tokyo, but I guess I shouldn’t get my hopes up about it becoming a standard on the menu 🙂 oh well.
The Starbucks I go to every morning was popping these treats in the case this morning and they looked so great I had to try one. The Tiramisu cake pop was soooo delicious! It was moist and full of flavor and the icing was really good. I also cannot say enough about the presentation. I would serve these at a party. I just hope they continue to make them!!!!!
@Diele I was referring to the rest of us who are not so lucky 😉
I think I totally missed this mini food thing Starbucks was doing 🙁 Now that I have internet access at home I should be able to keep more current with your postings…I’ve been spending more time again at starbucks and I’ve been doing more tasting of the pastries 🙂 So very very delicious! Your pic post here is making me hungry however lol.
These are SO good. I discovered them yesterday and I’ve already gone back for more today. Can’t decide what my favorite is! I’ve tried the red velvet whoopie pie, the tiramisu cake pop, the birthday cake pop, the salted caramel crunch square (i think that’s what it’s called), the peanut butter cupcake, and the orange cream cupcake. I can see myself easily getting addicted to the birthday cake and the salted caramel… yum!
Ok so where are these mini treats on the east coast? Have been to two stores in my area of NJ and the baristas looked at me like I had two heads. Had no clue as to what I was talking about. When will they be introduced nationwide at all SB locations?
Had the mini coconut cake pop and the mini chocolate hazelnut cake this week. Sooo yummy! Hope they decide to keep the minis forever.
Hi Amanda! Just wanted to say welcome to the blog! I actually recommend getting a gravatar, because I think I might have a couple of Amandas participating here already. Or a cool nickname. LOL. Anyway, I love hearing how you like these treats!!! I so wish I had a reason to pop down to Arizona and try them. Mini chocolate hazelnut sounds heavenly. Thank you for weighing in and hope you’ll poke around the rest of this site.
Melody
The Salted Caramel Mini-Bar is beyond AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So happy I found your blog as none of my fellow Starbucks junkies knew what I was babbling about when I emailed them about this. So glad to be living in Arizona. LOL!!!
This could be the best pastry offering ever!
the cake pops are in richmond, VA. my cousin introduced me to them. she purchased a box of six which had two each of birthday cake, rocky road, and tiramisu. they all were good, but the tiramisu was PHENOMINAL!! hope they stick around long enough for the party i’m throwing…
I’m hoping the thread up on MSI draws some attention to whomever making the decision on whether to launch nationally or not.
Dear Frabjous in Pink: Richmond is so close to Arlington that I am thinking of making a trip down. Are the cake pops still there? Thank you so much!
I still can’t find any of these mini treats in my area of NJ and when I try to find if they will come to one of the SB I frequent the baristas have no clue as to what I am talking about. I guess when they do these tests in one part of the country other locations are not informed. Too bad!!! They sound so yummy!
Hi Laura – Welcome to StarbucksMelody.com – Glad you found me. I would love to hear more about how your trip to Arlington, VA goes to find the mini treats! Do tell us if you like them. 🙂 Hope you will come back and poke around the blog a little and comment again.
Hey purple1 let me know if you find them! And your comment tells me that your local baristas need to be reading the blog. 😉
Melody I have given out your cards to baristas as well as some customers, but as far as the baristas go around here they seemed mildly interested and am not sure if they followed up. Can only push so far !!!
I know you are right Purple1. I think I have better luck in Seattle, but I definitely meet partners who seem that they put on an apron to collect a paycheck and have no real enthusiasm for anything Starbucks. Some of those kinds of partners are right here in downtown Seattle too. I try to leave my cards on the community bulletin boards as much as possible. I figure that is a non-intrusive way to get them into the stores and who knows who will pick them up. I sometimes wonder how many Starbucks have StarbucksMelody.com cards on their bulletin boards? It’s gotta be quite a few. But not every store has a community bulletin board, and oddly with the newer remodels, some of them are gone, permanently.
I know that Arizona and the east have different types of mini treats. On the coast we do not have anything with coconut. We have a total of ten super delicious mini treats. I really hope that Starbucks decides to take this nation wide. I feel as though we have seen huge success with the minis. They are perfectly portioned, rich treats. The Hampton Roads are of Virginia, Hampton, Virginia Beach, Newport News, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Norfolk, and Suffolk, have the minis if any body i within traveling distance and would like to get a taste.
http://yfrog.com/i3vdsoj – Hey Josh thank you for the amazing pic too! I love hearing that the minis are a hit in your area too. Maybe they’ll eventually come to Seattle!
Wish they would go national! Have not seen any in NJ.
It’s sad that I can literally name all the minis missing from that picture. Haha!
@diele I love your enthusiasm for the Minis!! I voted your thread up on MSI a day or 2 after you published it. Do you happen to know if there is anywhere in Tucson that was included in the test market in AZ? I am dying to try some of these!!
@Diele – You do have great enthusiasm! It’s not just for minis but I love your passion for Starbucks. I too voted up your mini thread and then the new one that is active too. I often have said it in the comments in a variety of contexts, but passion cannot be bought. No amount of money thrown at a person can create it. Love it when I see it. 🙂
@Hayley – I moved to Phoenix from Tucson 2 weeks ago and found the minis on my first day in Phoenix. I have been back in Tucson on the weekends and I have concluded that nowhere in Tucson is included in the test market. The baristas in Tucson have no idea what I’m talking about! You’ll have to take a trip to Phoenix – it’ll be worth it, though!
The mini chocolate hazelnut cakes are to die for! I’m in Richmond VA and they have them at the full Starbucks stores (not at the cafes at Barnes & Noble.)
I was informed it was only in select stores in Phoenix – there are stores in Chandler and Awaktukee that have had no clue what my customers were asking for. If you make a road trip, be sure to come on a Monday after 2pm for Mini Mondays(Buy one, get one free).
Diele you should go around the country and train baristas! For sure your love of your job and the community of SB is just great. I really wish there were more baristas like you. Too many of them just drag their feet and don’t interact with the customers or care about the product.
I just realized that 81 comments on a thread might be an all time record for any of my threads here, though I’m not sure. I’ll have to see if I can figure that out. Thank you everyone in this mini conversation!
Congrats melody for achieving 81 comments. I would hope the response you have gotten to this thread would get to SB so they will have these minis introduced nationwide. I voted on MSI for it as well.
Diele you should go around the country and train baristas! For sure your love of your job and the community of SB is just great. I really wish there were more baristas like you. Too many of them just drag their feet and don’t interact with the customers or care about the product.
Thank you so much for that. I have been feeling very discouraged at work lately. I truly love what I do and wish I was encouraged more.
http://mystarbucksidea.force.com/ideaview?id=08750000000H4DwAAK
^ Hey I just wanted to bump this thread. There is a very active MyStarbucksIdea.com thread on the same topic, and I’m encouraging my readers to go vote on it. It has 1,400 votes so far!
I’ve been inactive on MSI for some time but had to sign in and vote this one up. It’s a brilliant idea that appears to be well executed – here’s hoping it goes national!
Here is my comment: Yes by all means bring them to Seattle wiki wiki (Hawaiians know what that means) and especially to the Safeway Starbucks on 87th and Greenwood. They will take the place of blue berry muffins in my diet which I heard are not as healthy as I thought even though they have blueberries.
I voted already on MSI and it is nice to see how many votes the minis are getting. Funny the test stores are only in AZ and VA. I thought it was in the northeast and don’t consider VA northeast. Wish they would go national before the holidays!
@purple1 @steve and @CD
@purple1 – Uhm – tail between my legs – You can blame me for the bad information that is was East coast. I started this blog not sure where the second set of stores were but knew there were somewhere on the otherside of the country and from the perspective of someone in Seattle, Virginia still feels like “east coast” but I understand that people normally think of the east coast as being more the New England states! My very bad!
@Steve – Pretty much all food that is primarily made up of white processed flour is bad for you. Maybe very yummy though.
@CD – Thank you! And I think you made some insightful comments in the SDN thread, I just have to get back to that one too.
Here is an update:
The warehouse is actually running out of Minis! The last day will be Sunday which is two weeks sooner then the expected end date of the test market. Starbucks literally underestimated the demand and popularity of Minis. This is a MAJOR step in bringing them nationally!
Thank you so much Melody for encouraging your readers to vote! I adore these tasty treats and hope everyone can try them shortly!
I am sad they are almost out of the treats, but I am hopefully it will go nationwide soon, I’d live to try some they sound delicious!
Thanks for the update @Diele
I really like the idea of these Minis and had another thought/angle for Starbucks to consider with respect to these: Real Estate.
I’ve already mentioned that I often buy more minis at restaurants than I would other things. Informally polled, my friends fall into that same camp. So I would imagine that Starbucks could actually increase their average sale per receipt by offering these. And “real estate” is a consideration in trying to increase those sales.
One of the things that is so appealing about the minis pictured above is how nice and plentiful they look. Given the limited real estate that Starbucks has in which to display pastries, visual appeal is very important. Trays and trays of loafs and muffins all tend to blend into one another into a sea of bland. These minis are visually very appealing and offering a large *variety* is easier because they take up less real estate in the pastry case.
Simply look at the variety on display in the second picture and imagine that you were instead looking at trays of pumpkin loaf, lemon loaf, cinnamon scones and muffins. 4 items versus so many. And come on, those little cuties are far more attractive than a loaf any old day! 😉
These are ridiculously cute- and the cute factor alone will sell them. And I love that it’s a decent treat (still proportionately high in calories, but much better than a full slice of something else)
I was just on a conference call about Starbucks Minis on Friday, which we discussed the major issues that need to be solved before launching nationally and possibly even in Canada. Honestly, they have taken all of our partner feedback and seem to be working to launch these sometime next year with no reasons to pull them due to poor packaging, display, etc.
@Diele – Thank you for the update! I really hope that if they launch nationally they can do it in such a way to keep up the beautiful quality, even if it means a smaller selection of items.
It was mentioned that there will not be the selection of 15, but with a selection of 8. Honestly, it sounds very promising! *crosses fingers*
The thread just went under review on both the customer side and partner side! Both said more details in 2011 – how exciting! I can not wait for you to try them Melody!
@Diele I am excited!
I found a Spring F11 food worksheet on the store portal that lists the upcoming flavors of minis:
Lemon Sweet Square
Salted Caramel Sweet Square
Peanut Butter Cupcake
Carrot Cake Cupcake
Birthday Cake Pop
Rocky Road Cake Pop
Tiramisu Cake Pop
Red Velvet Whoopie Pie
Very disappointed to hear I will not be having a coconut cake pop next month. =(