I thought it would be fun to talk about some things that are coming soon (or perhaps or not coming at all!)
First off, I have heard lots of gossip that Starbucks will be bringing back Tribute Blend for 2012. You may recall, Starbucks first launched this coffee March 8, 2011 in stores everywhere. Part of the story behind this unique blend can be found on the official Starbucks blogs. This coffee blend was wildly popular, and sold well. I assume it was so popular that Starbucks felt like it had to come back again … And by popular demand, it’s back!
A regular reader of this blog emailed me with photos of Tribute Blend 2012. He said that he saw bags of it hanging around his local Starbucks and so he grabbed his phone and took a few photos. I am definitely excited about Tribute Blend coming back. Can’t wait to try it on the Clover, and pair some foods with it.
And thank you to the many readers, both customers and partners, who send me emails.
Secondly, I’ve heard rumor that Starbucks will be introducing a cherry pie into their pastry case lineup. I don’t have any confirmation of this or images, so this comes with the warning that this could be bad information. My interest was first piqued by this MyStarbucksIdea.com thread where a customer stated that she’s been enjoying the cherry pie at Starbucks in California. I am sure that Starbucks does quite a bit of testing of new beverages in Northern California, as I have written about the Pink Lime Frozt previously in Sacramento. And I also know that San Diego, California also is a major area of testing too. There was once a MyStarbucksIdea.com thread (about a year ago) about Vietnamese Iced Coffee being tested, and at that time I think I figured out (through twitter conversations) that this was probably tested in San Diego county.
Since reading that MyStarbucksIdea.com thread about cherry pie, I have heard loose gossip that cherry pie is coming soon too. Does anyone know more?
And I thought it would be fabulous to write about these two things together because I think cherry pie and Tribute Blend would be a great pairing! And I know that many readers are looking forward to Tribute Blend coming back.
This is an open thread. Feel free to talk about anything Starbucks-related.
EDIT on February 5, 2012:
I just realized there is a Blonde roast promotion coming up for 3 days only. Buy a pound of Blonde roast whole bean and a get a free (any size!) beverage. I definitely think that is worth mentioning in case there are fans of Blonde roast on this blog:
Edit on January 9, 2012:
A few people have contacted me either through email or twitter, and so here is what I’m hearing about the new pastry case items: There will be four new items in early March when Tribute Blend launches: Cherry Pie, Apple Pie, Brown Sugar Walnut tart, and Chocolate Hazelnut tart. All of these are classified as “petities.”
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I have seen cherry pie on our pastry mark out sheets which means it is available somewhere in the country. I assumed it was either a elevated option(which was disproven with your Olive Way photo) or a test market item. Hopefully we will see this and maybe even an apple pie. Tonight, I will look at work to see what all is listed on the sheet I do not recognize.
Tribute was sensational for both partners and customers alike! From what I have heard it is coming back, but I haven’t seen anything official yet.
Perhaps cherry pie on President’s Day? I would hope if this is true that it is of high quality. Funny you should talk about food. Today at my local SB I asked the SM where the valentine’s cupcakes were? He sort of laughed and then said he had no idea. Are they not doing any cupcakes this year? Actually, the cupcakes are not as great from one year to the other depending on the baker, but I did enjoy having one now and again. Anyone have cupcakes at any of their SB stores? Thanks Melody.
No cupcakes here. I wondered that too actually, because I always bought one on my birthday…and now they’re MIA! You’re right too that the quality varies from year to year…I remember not liking last years very much. Which was sad because the peppermint brownie they had was so fantastic!
I forgot all about cupcakes! Perhaps the raspberry truffle cake pop was to be the Valentine’s inspired treat?
I am BEYOND excited at the prospect of Tribute coming back! It is definitely one of my favorites. And the cherry pie? All I know is that if Stabucks puts a cherry pie in their pastry case, my Dad—a non-coffee drinker and cherry pie enthusiast—will finally have a reason to visit Starbucks with me! Which would be awesome!!! I hope the rumors are true! Thanks for the heads up, now I have time to work up some healthy enthusiasm! 😀
Oh the vanilla cupcakes! Starbucks somehow produced some amazing vanilla cupcakes in 2008. There were 2 flavors – Vanilla and chocolate, and then maybe in 2009 or 2010, there was a red velvet too.
http://blogs.starbucks.com/blogs/customer/archive/2010/02/10/what-i-m-hinting-for-this-valentine-s-day.aspx
^ That’s helpful to see – In 2010 maybe, Starbucks said they made the cupcakes ‘healthier’ but they were never nearly as good as the first year I tried them. I wanted the unhealthy recipe back, no doubt! And I missed them too this year also! The vanilla was always my favorite, and even after the recipe changed, I still got them now and then as a treat. Not quite as wonderful as before, but still a nice treat.
When they removed the HFCS and articifal flavorings, they did definitely taste different. I am shocked to see them not coming back! They haven’t sold as well as they initially did, so I can understand why.
Cherry pie is my favorite. I hope Starbucks does it right with real classic ingredients, however without a scoop of a rich vanilla bean ice cream it will be missing an important crowning element, IMHO 😉
I agree that Tribute will make a great pairing.
While I like these “seen in the back room” heads up, I stand by my basic position that inventory sitting in a backroom is a liability. If Starbucks is not going to release Tribute until March that means they have tied up a lot of money in dead inventory, let alone an inventory the has a finite shelf life.
In a way I hope Starbucks forgets the cupcakes. The quality got worse each year. A cupcake is one of those decadent treats that really must be made with high quality real ingredients.
Life is too short to eat bad food (or drink bad coffee 😉 ). Since I must watch my dietary intakes, the more real ingredients in a food item the easier it is to plan. I would rather have a small bit of something really good and real, than any amount of anything ersatz.
Dad Cooks you are so correct. The cupcakes as they have been are really not worth buying why ruin your diet for a bad cupcake. But, what amazes me is that of late it seems that the SM and partners are just not aware and up to date on what is coming out. (or perhaps they are not supposed to tell customers until a specific date!). Sometimes I get blank stares from partners when I ask questions.
Tribute has not been shipped out to any stores in our district. We generally know roughly two weeks before launch on all the products and information.
the store where I took the photos for this blog had them for sale already, I bought a pound because I loved it last year. interestingly though there wasn’t any tribute blend VIA for sale.
@Jack – I didn’t realize your local store was SELLING it already. That is wild. I have been assuming that Feb 7th is Casi Cielo, and probably Tribute Blend is like March 6th – Which is just about one year from the very first launch of this coffee.
I see the odd tension of this situation and I can see DadCook’s point too:
On the one hand, the marketing type folks at the SSC probably love a coordinated launch with a specific date in order to build excitement, create consistency in the stores, and make sure marketing materials are contemporaneous with current offerings.
On the other hand, inventory just sitting in a back room IS expensive to a business, and the reality is that these coffee beans aren’t getting any fresher just sitting in a box. Probably with the flavorlock packaging it won’t make a huge difference, but still, imho, a best practice would be to sell beans as fast as possible.
I can see both sides of this situation.
By the way, Jack, what state are you in?
What DadCooks said – real ingredients, and really good!
I love cherry pie! Will be on the lookout for the Tribute blend.
Generally we don’t have inventory for a new launch in our back room for more than a week or two before it hits the floor. For fourteen thousand stores coordinating deliveries for a new launch just 3-5 days before is unreasonable – there simply isn’t enough room on the trucks. That being said, the store selling Tribute already is probably a ‘soft launch’ store meant to have product before anyone else in order to generate buzz and/or gossip. The only new coffee in my backroom right now is Casi Cielo and we’ve had boxes arriving in our shipments for the last two weeks.
As for partners in the stores being clueless… well, generally we are. If the information isn’t available to us via portal updates and DM, SM, ASM don’t choose to share, then we have no way of knowing what’s coming until it shows up.
I can’t believe they are selling it early! We haven’t even received it. Casi Cielo comes out Monday and I set it up tomorrow evening.
TRIBUTE BLEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I loved that coffee so much! I can’t lie, it that isn’t a Photoshopped picture, I am stoked! Thanks for the happy blog post, Melody! <3
@MagicKat – Thanks for weighing in. And actually, for 14k stores to coordinate a launch with 2 weeks only in the backroom is pretty good. But yeah, I see this all the times … partners don’t read the portal (Honestly I have no idea who can and cannot access it) and information isn’t shared. Once in a blue moon, I do have partners tell me that they read this blog to supplement what they already know about Starbucks.
Since this is an open thread, one my favorite SMs sat down with me and told me that she was reading the portal, and reading information related to Valentine’s Day at Starbucks. (I don’t know when she read this). She mentioned that at the bottom of this email, there was a one sentence reminder, “Reminder customers can take photos in a store with their personal phones.” That’s definitely not verbatim. But in the big scheme of things, it sounds like there are so many emails, and so much information to share, and only so much time… In the end, unless partners are proactive on twitter, and blogs to find out what is happening, they >>may<< end up knowing well after a customer knows info.
That was vague and poorly written, but I am just saying that I totally get what you mean.
Usually there is a promotion poster posted a week or so out before launch so partners can read it. I do wish there was more of an empathsis on being knowledgeable. The dm needs to ensure sms are communicating to their partners. I take the initiative to be up-to-date.
@Diele, BCav, and MagicKat – I’ve said this many times, and I still think it’s true: I think that the partners who are active on twitter (and engaging with other partners AND customers), and/or active on blogs are by far the most knowledgeable. They get an infusion of one more source of information.
@Melody, I am in Wisconsin!!!
@Jack — ahh Wisconsin, I lived there for a few years in the late 60s early 70s when I worked for SuperValu Grocery Stores.
So you would probably like my second favorite topping on fruit pies, a fine aged sharp cheddar.
Question for the Partners — can you access the “portal” from your home computer?
I don’t believe we can unless they changed it recently. You can access in store at all levels(barista, shift, etc.).
@DadCooks, actually I don’t care for cheese.
Melody, you’re correct, there are many recent reminders in our materials about the photography policy because of the upcoming Valentine’s Day cups. These cups work with the Starbucks Cup Magic app for iPhones and Android phones. They are hoping that many customers will start using their smart phones with the app, and that will look like they’re taking photos.
Inventory in the back room is not a waste when it serves a purpose. In this case, like Casi Cielo, we get some of the coffee before the release so that we can have tastings among the partners in the store so we are knowledgable about the product once it’s released. We get partner samples of some of the new food products as well for the same reason.
well, thank God for Tribute. I just called a store, talked to a barista I know well, asked about if they had Tribute out. He said no, but they do have it in back. Then he asked another partner when they’d be putting it out and whoever it was said something like: not til late Feb or March.
I agree with DadC……as usual. not to mention it would take Tribute OUT being sold to get me back into Sbux right now. I’ll go for that coffee….one of the very best “regular” blends ever, imo.
I also love cherry pie but don’t care whether it’s sold by Sbux or not….it’s so easy to make! AND, re Valentine’s day, there’s not ONE thing Valentine’s in my (old) place. not even the minimal they’ve done everywhere else (the tumblers, 2, and the red heart sleeve)
I also used to love their vanilla cupcakes. I say trade out a donut or something and bring back the cupcakes (the real kind) and maybe even a Valentine’s sugar (not frosted, sugared) cookie. wow, how things are changing…..
‘
ps: @DadC..where were you in Wisc? I have a place on Lake Delavan……remember first going up there…they had a “super valu” in town…I was familiar with them from college in Iowa but one of Italian friends (not out of Chicago much) was pronouncing it: “Super Valooooooo”. too funny.
where is chgo? he could appreciate that!
@denise r — Ripon, home of the Republican Party. There was also a private college (spoiled rich kids), a Maytag Plant, and a Green Giant Processing Plant; 3-shifts 24/7 each so our store was 24/7 before it became common. The only time we were slow was during Green Bay Packers games, except at half-time when everybody ran out to get more beer and brats (we had a real butcher who had a special spice blend that I have not found better).
I grew up in the Chicago suburbs and Lake Delavan used to be the party spot that the all the “wild” kids went to. I guess I never got wild as I never got up or over to Delavan.
@DadCooks store partners do not have access to the ‘portal’ from their home computers. Non-store partners do have access through their company issued laptops, but the non-store portal is slightly different from the store portal.
We do have access to a partners only section of starbucks.com (if you squint at the bottom of the main page, you can see a link for partners) that has many of the announcements and some training items without having any confidential policy / paperwork items available without some layer of security.
I’m partial to the apple pie option actually.. I hope my store gets it. My guess is that Tribute will launch early March since my store hasn’t received any yet. If there’s more information available, it is being restricted to email correspondence which is not available to shifts or baristas.
Having Tribute Blend come back is very good news to me.
Funny that the subject of cupcakes was brought up. I wanted to buy just one on Friday, none to be seen. It is my understanding then, that they are discontinued? I am still mourning the loss of the rainbow cookie. Another one bites the dust………
@DadC…..RIPON!!! too funny. JUST the day before they removed all comfortable (imo) seating in my regular, newly “re-modeled” store, I met an old friend there (at ‘my’ Sbux) for coffee, visit etc. We worked together for yrs at Highland Pk Hosp and then longer, at Evanston Hosp. She is from Ripon. I went up there to her wedding 25yrs ago. (she also worked at the Green Giant plant summers thru college……I heard some great stories about our canned food from factories :((( anyway, the next day, after meeting with her, the chairs were all gone and I was thankful we’d met JUST the day before and had a nice place to visit and have coffee. (plus she brought me some infamous choc. covered marshmellow filled cookies from some place in Ripon where they’re made……I hadn’t thought about them for yrsssss, until ,ironically, the day before I met with her..and then she shows up with them. very weird. and good;) Anyway, just ironic. and, as I said, I was so thankful we’d met the day before the chairs were removed and the whole place is not so comfortable.
and, the actual birthplace of the Republican party is a small town (pop.~200, if that?) between Iowa City (south of) and Mt. Pleasant. I had to stop there with a friend and take a pic of her by the sign….. birthplace of the Repub. party, and there was some date.
now I’m way off topic I guess but had to throw that out there. alot of ironies here. and of course, you may not have meant that literally about Ripon and the birthplace, etc.
re: Delavan, I went there once in h.s. with a friend but not in any wild way.? and then not again til my late 20’s. Where I came from, we would’ve considered those kids the ‘rich ones’…none of us had the means to go party there…. wild or not:)
@Chris W. — thanks for the information.
It is a delicate balancing act for a company as to what company information is available to an employee outside the control of a company computer.
@DadC..so, I google the brithplace…apparently thee is great dispute between Crawfordsville, IA (not Olds) and Ripon and also Jackson, MI. ??? apparently they al have signs and plaques…… ?
Wow! There is so much to comment on!!
The Cupcakes I am fine with not having anymore…I never really liked them unless they were to be hypothetically thrown into a frappuccino for instance…
I think that Tribute and Cherry Pie would be an amazing pairing indeed! I will bring my own ice cream even! I wonder what the cherry pie looks like in the test market…maybe like the old blueberry oat bars did?
Casi Cielo is my favorite coffee! I cannot wait until tomorrow when it launches to get a pound!
I looked at the pastry case this morning and thought that SB does need a new pastry and hopefully the cherry pie will fit that bill and be a bit different and good. The pastries in the case seem to have be in the pastry offerings for quite some time. BTW Suzanne C I remember that rainbow cookie! It indeed was pretty good and it would be nice to bring it back.
@denise r — I got my washing machine companies confused, Ripon had a Speed Queen plant not Maytag (I had blue cheese on my mind and Maytag is a great blue cheese made in Newton IA).
Yes, there is great debate on what town can lay claim to being the true birthplace of the Republican Party. I dare say that from my far away observation of Wisconsin politics today that the current population of Ripon would not argue very hard 😉 .
I could also digress into a real dissertation into the changes at Green Giant, from quality standards to workforce. I’ll just say that neither is what is was, and not in a good way, an example of marketing over quality.
Today’s Super Bowl menu includes Dad’s Cheddar Potato Souper Bowls: rich creamy potato soup made with Cougar Gold Cheddar and served in a sourdough bread bowl. After dinner coffee selection; Starbucks 2011 Anniversary Blend.
@Suzanne C – Hey when you say ‘rainbow cookie’ do you mean the M & M cookie that was offered several years ago. Seems like it has been four to five years at least. That was a good one. And I really did like the espresso brownie too – Still miss that!
@Purple1 – The apple bran muffin in the pastry case is surprisingly good. But I definitely agree that the food needs some changing, – The same morning bun thing has been in the pastry case for years. And there’s room for improvement on the quality. It’s not terrible, but I often times I am near better pastry options, like when there is a Specialty’s Bakery nearby.
That sounds like a delightful superbowl meal! I get to close the store, but I may bring some grub for my partners and myself to eat. 🙂
I wonder about cupcakes. They’ve gotten so popular that there are cupcake shops EVERYWHERE. I wonder if Starbucks decided not to bother releasing them because they knew they wouldn’t be able to compete quality wise on such a large scale? Obviously the quality of a cupcake that’s been baked freshly will be better than what Starbucks could provide to it’s thousands of stores.
It makes sense to me anyway.
Also – I love cherry pie, if this is true, I can’t wait to try it!
@Melody There’s nothing wrong with the morning bun! LOL! That’s one of my favorite pastry items! Especially warmed in the oven!!! 😛
I wouldn’t be upset if they changed up the petite pastries a little bit, though. I think we’ll have some exciting new items in our future! Its sad to hear people say partners are unknowledgeable about upcoming or current promotions. We are given so many valuable resources, but they never get check as often as they should. The Sirens Eye and Current Promotion Workbook is my bible on admin Mondays and roasting plant order days.
Melody I mean the M+M cookie from yeons ago as I remember enjoying it. SB should do a promotion where they bring back some of these oldies but goodies pastries. Not aware of the bakery you mention as it must be a local Seattle bakery. Also, it is true I think that with cupcake bakeries flourishing it is hard to keep a good cupcake at SB, but in the beginning that vanilla cupcake was yummy.
Camspi – It is very different from store to store I am finding out re the knowledge and passion of partners I guess that goes without saying perhaps. This am I went to a SB store I consider my second favorite local store and there is a partner there that is absolutely terrific and I always think how different her passion and knowledge is from the partners at my regular local store. I joked with her this morning how she has to relocate to my local store and for various reasons she said with such passion she loved her store and I knew she meant it.
Melody, had to bring up that espresso brownie, didn’t you? There’s another long lost love. I used to ask for a pump of the raspberry syrup on top!
@camspi Even with checking the Siren’s Eye and Promo workbooks I found myself out of the loop the first year I worked for Sbux… I was talking with my mentor and she suggested joining forums and blogs and signing up for all of the official Sbux emails that get sent to customers (that’s what she did). I now find myself much better informed. It’s hard when the average age of barista in my district is about 22, many of them either don’t have the drive and ambition to further their Sbux careers and/or they work full time, go to school full time, and have small children to look after – there simply aren’t enough hours in the day.
I find myself printing out important tidbits and posting them in the backroom, but it’s frustrating when customers come from other stores and don’t understand why we know about their email coupon and the baristas down the street hadn’t ever seen it before. If there was a section on the portal for email blasts and social media updates, that would be really helpful.
In other news… I actually really miss the berry stella, but I think I was the only person in my store who even liked it. 😉
I love the morning bun warmed up with a packet of honey on the top. Delightful! They are quite popular at my store. I do wish we had like cini minis for the petites. Bite sized cinnamon rolls or brownies would be a hit in my opinion.
The berry stella was amazing! I also miss the reduced fat cinnamon chip mini loaf! I love delightful whole grain goodies that are filling AND nutritious! Do you remember the multigrain roll with jam. Amazing!
I had totally forgotten about the Berry Stella – had to google it and see images to refresh my memory. That was pretty good. I sort of think generally speaking, a lot of the pastries were better before they decided to get ‘healthy’ and remove all the HFCS and somehow make them better for you. I guess I’m okay with a small amount of artificial whatever in my food. Everything in moderation.
Looks like I have to give the morning bun another try!
The morning bun MUST be warmed up! It is dreadful just by itself in my opinion. I also have to have the honey on top to satisfy my sweet tooth. I do them maybe once every two weeks as a treat. They aren’t too bad calorie wise as well. Anything is better than lemon pound cake. 😉
I just noticed this, and I haven’t really heard anyone talking about this blonde roast promotion – Free any size drink when you buy a pound of Blonde roast OR a box of Veranda Via Feb 6 thru 8 (US and Canada only)
http://sbux.co/AkHZje
Yeah we have a bunch of signage for it that goes up tonight. So far the Blonde has gotten love it or hate it reactions with about 25% saying it’s still too bold. Hopefully we’ll be able to sell through some of it to make room on the floor for the Casi. 🙂