Just for fun, if you could pick out a seasonal syrup for Starbucks to offer as a summer promotional beverage, what would it be?
A long-time reader of this blog went on vacation to Mexico in January this year, visiting Starbucks while he was there. The reader (Nathan, a partner in Canada) discovered that in Starbucks in Mexico, the three promotional holiday beverages were the Cherry Mocha, the White Chocolate Cranberry Mocha, and the Toffee Nut Latte. He sent me a few photos from his vacation, including signs promoting these drinks in the stores. What do my readers think of these ideas? While I understand that Starbucks cannot offer a huge number of syrups due to the logistics of storing numerous bottles, I am ready for a change of pace! I would totally support the idea of Cherry syrup coming back, and while I might not drink many White Chocolate Cranberry Mochas, I would definitely give it a try, and experiment with it in other beverages. Actually, I would like to see Almond make a come back too.
The photos below are obviously from this past Christmas season in Mexico, but it did get me thinking about what customers might want here in the U.S. for the next promotional beverage. Often there are just a couple of promo drinks each year: a holiday promotional beverage, and a summer beverage, and since summer is not far away, I am throwing the question out there: What do you want to see for a summer promo beverage at Starbucks this year? And what do you think of the idea of a Cranberry White Mocha as holiday beverage?
Thank you Nathan for sending me these photos!
This is an open thread. Feel free to talk about anything Starbucks-related. Starbucks has definitely been in the news lately: They opened their first store in Norway on February 9, 2012; And the green Siren plans to open its first store in India in August of this year; And just so you know, the Rewards department of Starbucks has stated that there are no immediate plans to change the way stars are earned. Also, there is an official Starbucks Google+ page, for those who are interested in Google+. And last but not least, this blog article here has absolutely nothing to do with Starbucks, yet I find the discussion interesting in terms of how brands relate to those folks who hijack their name – either in a positive way or negative way. I guess my interest in that kind of conversation is obvious.
Last but not least, I think it would be super fun to get to 1000 Facebook fans, so please “like” the page if you do like it. Thank you to everyone who has been sharing articles via Facebook or Twitter.
Hope everyone has a great weekend!
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White chocolate cranberry mocha sounds fabulous. I think it works with the Christmas season. Does the US not have Toffee Nut Lattes? It’s one of the ones that people ask for year round here.
Personally, I’d like to see the UK get some of the tea-based products that the US has for the summer. Like the Iced Tea Lemonade things that everyone keeps talking about and the Green Tea Lattes & fraps.
Cranberry White Mocha (Frappuccino) was our promotional drink in Xmas 2011 in Germany…I loved it!!!
Nothing better than these sprinkles on a Frappuccino!
I would love to try this Valencia syrup here in Germany…heard so much good stuff about it.
Valencia!
My flavor of the summer is Peach.
Peach tea and Frappuccino would be refreshing.
Unfortunately I cannot think of a coffee beverage using Peach, other than a peach scone or pie to go with a brew of Tribute. Wait, a Peach Mocha would work.
White Chocolate Cranberry Mocha sounds good.
Sbux expansion in to India: On the Nightly Business Report on PBS they suggested that Sbux is planning 3,000 stores for India. Could that be remotely correct? That would be a store a day for like 9 years!
Valencia, hands down because it can go into dozens of recipes to enhance the flavor of hot and cold beverages, people ask for orange of some kind all the time. Besides, who doesn’t want a return of the Zoolander famed Orange Mocha Frappuccino ?
@cardiff yes we have toffee nut syrup..we make toffee nut lattes all the time at my store..i know of several people who would love for velencia to come back..and people love coconut as well…
My summer choice would be Orange. . I miss my Iced Orange Mocha.
Oh and maybe an Orange loaf. Summer perfection!
I don’t know if it was you who pointed it out in the first place, but someone on msi suggested cheesecake flavor and I don’t know, it just sounds like a good idea! Especially if it were to be a permanent flavor introduction. Mixing flavors with that seems pretty cool! Raspberry cheesecake latte, white chocolate cheesecake mocha… And at holidays pumpkin spice cheesecake! Seems kind of fun 🙂
coconut. very good in a vanilla bean creme frapp. also return the melon syrup that used to be part of the green tea frapp…..really messed up the drink when they took it out.
My picks before reading the entire post:
Spring Two Valencia(feature as a addition to mocha or tea)
Summer One Coconut(addition to mocha frappuccinos)
Summer Two Blackberry(addition to lemonade which is now a menu item and green tea frappuccinos)
If I used syrups I would choose a coconut or a mocha syrup. This morning I saw the DM at my local SB and asked him if he got my email about that Jan tumbler and he said he had and apologized for not replying as he did not realize it needed an answer. He was super nice and understanding about the Jan tumbler promotion and went to the shelf and gave me a new tumbler. Very nice gesture and I thanked him. He says he knows that I have a passion for Starbucks. He also said he got a few complaints from others about this tumbler.
The iced tea lemonades haven’t been the same without Valencia. I love valencia and coconut. I have a frappuccino that tastes like a Samoa Girl Scout cookie.
I tried to add a poll which I have never done before! It looks okay, but somehow the poll came out a little big, and awkwardly placed. Oh well, I will leave it up and see what happens!
Living is So.Cal we seem to have a lot of mexican influences in our day to day life. So following suit with the post from flavors of mexico when ever I get the chance I love Hibiscus drinks…sorta fruity, floral, tart. & Prickley Pear (cactus fruit) is best summer color ever, vibrant majenta and it too is sorta sweet & sour. Most of the mexican resturants around have margaritas in these flavors and they go down best on a Hot summer day.
P.S. I would love them to have the green coffee lime cooler again this summer & I have to say I hold a soft spot for the Old School Valencia syrup. I loved it in Greentea!
I like that you added the poll Melody. Very curious as to how it ends up. Thanks. Happy Friday to everyone!
@Purple1 – I’ve already removed that poll. Yikes. It slowed down this site/page tremendously, and when you clicked “poll results” it redirected you to a page about Adel and the grammys. I love the idea of a poll with this blog post, but that sodahead.com poll wasn’t what I had in mind.
Would love a cranberry syrup. would go well with a lot of things.
I would love to see Valencia and Melon both make a comeback.. Passion Tea Lemonade with Melon was my drink for an entire summer! Also, Green Tea Lattes haven’t been the same without it.
I assume these would be the wide range of flavors that could occur:
http://shop.torani.com/
in which case
cherry green tea would rock
Hello Melody, I am a first time visitor. I like the site, and wowsers you sure like your Starbucks. I use to go to Starbucks 4-5 times a week, but I have cut down lately. If I had to choose, I would go with either the cherry mocha or the toffee nut latte you mentioned in the post. Those both sound good to me. I look forward to reading your posts in the future!
Toffenut lattes are available all year.
would also LOVE to see the return of the old ‘tazoberry ‘n cream (drink) of the early 2000’s. That was really light and refreshing.
@Melody: ps: I was noticing it took me FOREVER recently to get on your site…..if the poll thing was the cause, I’m glad you removed it. better today…much quicker.
I’d even love the plain tazoberry drinks that they used to have.
Oh the tazboberry drinks – Those were so good. That was delicious. That seems like must’ve been 2000 or 2001.
@Diele – Do people buy Toffeenut? The funny thing as that as I listen to people around me order, I hardly ever hear anyone order anything syruppy. Not to say people don’t, but it just seems like the syrups aren’t such a big deal.
An odd Starbucks experience happened yesterday. I wonder how most partners handle this situation?
Every Friday, I have a ritual lunch plans with a couple of friends/colleagues. This Friday, as usual, at lunch I was out with two friends, and then as we were walking back to the office we decided to drop into Starbucks. This is not surprising really. There are a million Starbucks downtown, and we’ve done this routine many times. The three of us walked in, and I ordered a Peppermint Hot Chocolate, and then went over the beverage pick up area to get it. My friend, Tracy, ordered a tall darkest-whatever roast, with one inch of cold soy. Actually, she’s told me she HATES blonde, but she kind of likes the Pike Place Roast. The register barista rung it up as a tall Pike (that was what they had) plus charged her 60 cents for the soy milk.
As I was getting my hot choc, I turned back to Tracy, and saw her upset about the 60 cents charge. She was telling the register barista, “I never get charged for the soy milk!! When I go to the Starbucks near home (Oak Tree #308) they don’t charge me!”
The register barista started to apologize and explain that they always charge for soy milk in brewed coffee, and the bar barista backed her up. Tracy was upset, and turned to me and said something like, “I’ve got StarbucksMelody here – Melody are they supposed to charge me??” I was a bit like a deer caught in headlights, and I said, “I don’t think so – I think the price of brewed coffee includes up to two ounces of milk condiment, but I”m not really sure because I take my coffee black, so I haven’t really thought about it.”
The register barista already started refunding the 60 cents, and profusely apologized. I think all this happened within the course of two minutes. Then I turned to the register barista – whose face I definitely recognized but I couldn’t remember ber name – and I asked her her name. She said, and I THINK she was joking with me, but I was still feeling like a deer in headlights, she said, “I’m not going to tell you my name and then I end up in a blog post about this!!” She seemed to be playing with me, but I was totally surprised, and she did moments later, tell me her name.
I did walk out of there wondering things like, Does Starbucks normally charge for an inch of cold soy in brewed coffee? (I know that’s exactly what Tracy orders because I’ve been with her a million times to Starbucks – She really misses the Vanilla Cupcakes too!) And I did wonder if the register refunded the 60 cents because my friend was upset, or because I was with her? Oh well. But it was an odd Starbucks visit.
Wow Melody what a totally bizarre experience. I thought soy milk was free. I find it very interesting re the exchange of names. I remember in one of your posts at some point there was a discussion re whether partners should have name tags. I think it would be nice to have name tags. I ask many of the partners their names and I know most of them but I do find some of them are quite protective of giving out their names. Was the SM in the store? Would be curious what the SM says about this.
You were exactly right. If it is used as a condiment then we do not charge for it. Generally I have people ask me for it at the handoff. I think that they may do this to avoid such arguments at the hand off. I have one customer who this happened to a lot at other stores and she was frustrated just like Tracy. We now have her use a registered card so that even when it does happen she doesn’t get charged. I believe that the standard does state that the milk or soy can even be steamed. BUT I must go back to the JUST SAY YES that is missing so often and nothing makes me crazier than hearing a story like this.
Mel, I think our rule is that up to four ounces of extra dairy/soy will be supplied without charge. I think. I’ve never charged for a splash of soy in a brewed coffee, because that doesn’t seem to justify the 60 cent upcharge. Now, if the customer wanted half of the cup to be filled with steamed soy, we’d have a different story. I’m glad the issue got resolved, though!
As for the syrups, I agree with DadCooks and Diele. Peach sounds stunning in Iced Teas/Vivannos, and bringing back some of the old classics like Melon, Valencia, and Almond would be fantastic. Those three flavors are the only ones I ever hear partners mention about “the good old days”. Well, those flavors and the old Frappuccino bases 😉
@DadCooks – Peach sounds great for an iced tea. I don’t know about a Peach Mocha, but I think that the teas could have some new flavors and/or syrups that go with them.
@Alexander and Rebecca – Thanks! I’ll follow up with Tracy, and really, I should get her to start using a registered card. I do have friends who don’t use a Starbucks card! LOL. I’m going to work on persuading her to use a registered card. She goes to Starbucks often enough!
Just throwing in the standard here… When we use a ‘chargeable milk product’ as a condiment, the price is included up to two inches (steamed or not – doesn’t matter) anything over two inches should be charged and any default milk product should be charged using the ‘add dairy’ function. That being said, if someone is upset about it we give it to them for free. End of story. The ‘Just say YES’ policy is non-negotiable on things like this. It is way more important to have a happy customer who will return to spend another $2.18 on a brewed coffee tomorrow or next week than it is to get their lame $0.60 now.
MagicKat is right. 4 ounches is considered a condiment and should not be charged.
I’d forgotten all about the tazoberry drinks. Was my favourite drink during breaks at Barnes & Noble.
We don’t charge for soy added into drinks, even if it’s steamed. I’ll charge you for soymilk if you’re having as much milk as coffee, but most of my coworkers don’t.
I think this comes back to the partners being unaware of store policies issue that has been mentioned loads of times recently.
Almond! Lord do I miss it. Goes so weel with mocha or an iced americano. It was one of the orginal 5 syrups, it should make a comeback
(that was odd…just had to re-sign in…..username, email etc, and yes, am on my own computer)
The tazoberry ‘n cream drinks were definitely early 2000…..I remember getting one every afternoon/evening on the way to a gym and I was only at that gym until mid 2002.
@Melody: your lunch adventure has brightened my morning. I don’t know why…it’s really another goof-up with Sbux (miscommunication??) but I am LOL about it because I can just see it going down..and your rxn. 🙂
@denise, they definitely had them in October 2000 and I quit working at the Barnes & Noble in May 2002 and don’t remember them disappearing while I was there. So, definitely agree with you on the dates.
We have almond syrup all the time here, not one of the more popular flavours though. The only one that’s less popular is Irish Cream (creme?)
Melody,
Strange story indeed.
I am with many above when I would say bring in some nice flavorful teas that we can enjoy when it is hot out. Peach tea sounds really good, like DadCooks mentioned.
@Allie – The more I think about, the more I think peach is a great summer syrup idea!! We can only keep our fingers crossed. 🙂
I am humbled by the number of folks who like my peach idea. 😀
I do not think that Starbucks has ever had that flavor, probably because getting the flavor right is a real challenge for the food technologists.
Hope you all have a “peachy day”. Or should that be “y’all” 😉
Dad
I think a peach coffee crumb cake would be delightful. I could see a peach tea being delicious as well. Not sure about a peach puree for frappuccinos, but we won’t know unless they try.
I would love a peach tea for summer and as far as a coffee drink I still stick with my hot coffee drinks and don’t switch to cold/iced drinks during summer. I will take a cappuccino 365 a year.
Melody, a suggestion for a blog entry might be a Pinterest post to fan pages like mine. It would be fun to see how many are out there.
http://pinterest.com/trolsgirl/got-starbucks/
Today got a $1 off rewards coupon towards oatmeal. Has anyone else received this? First coupon received in ages by snail mail.
@Purple1 – That’s tomorrow’s blog post – The oatmeal coupon! Oh no maybe I should publish it now. 😉 Seems like everyone is getting theirs right now.
I haven’t seen one yet, but I don’t always get food offers. I do buy a ton of food though. I buy anywhere from 10-25 food times weekly as I have been eating my lunch at work(love the chicken santa fe!). Not sure I would use the oatmeal coupon as I would prefer a reduced fat turkey bacon for breakfast.
Add me to that! But I’ll make the formal comment later!! 😉
Starbucks really have more variety of coffees. But Iv’e to choose, I’ll choose Toffee Nut Latte because I love peanuts! Thanks for sharing this! 🙂
The US had toffeenut for years. So strange to think other markets do not.
Some of you peach wanters may be in luck. Peach iced green tea and peach green tea latte/frappuccino showed up on my menu buttons and I called my district manager to ask her. She said some areas will be test marketing it (but sadly I don’t fall into one of those areas )
Ugh! LMAO!!! Brandon I’ve been waiting patiently to get to write about Peach Green Tea!! I knew this is coming. I know of 3 cities that are getting it. It is a peach syrup with reconstituted peach pieces in it (like the berries that are in the hibiscus berry refreshers – little pieces that taste amazingly good when shaken in water). And the markets that get the peach tea, will also be pushing a tea bounce back promo on their receipts. I’ve been wanting badly to put together a blog post on it. I either need a quick trip home to California and find a San Diego Starbucks with this, or I’ve been waiting for someone to email any kind of supporting imagery, or marketing, whichever came first. I can’t wait for peach tea!
@Melody — me either 😉
For me every day is a “peachy” day 😀