Years ago, there was a Starbucks CPG passport! A reader (a Starbucks partner) sent me this photo of her old CPG passport! I like this idea. And now, the number of CPG items in the grocery store is huge! For those who don’t know, CPG standard for “Consumer Products Group.” It’s the area of the business that involves pre-packaged items, usually found in grocery stores, but could be sold in many different places, including the actual retail stores.
On Saturday, July 20th, I walked through a QFC grocery store in Seattle’s University Village neighborhood, and took pictures of all the many Starbucks CPG items. There are so many now that it is pretty impressive. I think a lot of people don’t realize the variety of Starbucks-produced items at the local grocery! Because of the large variety of grocery items, this is precisely the reason I think Starbucks is due for a new CPG passport (and I would like a customer version too, please).
By the way, some analysts suggest that CPG will be a big growth driver for Starbucks in the future.
Of course, first and foremost, there are bottled Frappuccinos!
Starbucks first introduced the bottled Frappuccino in 1995, after the failure of an earlier (and very first ever) CPG product called Mazagran.
You can also find Starbucks ice cream at the grocery store:
Starbucks ice cream is being discontinued! According to the 1997 Starbucks Annual Report, Starbucks began offering ice cream in 1996. That’s a lot of years of Starbucks ice cream. I hate to say this, I am not that crazy about Starbucks ice cream. It doesn’t taste all that great to me, so seeing it go is no love loss. Starbucks ice cream has gone through many recipe changes and went from being produced by Dreyer’s to being produced by UniLever. Good bye Starbucks ice cream.
You can buy ready-to drink Starbucks Refreshers:
Canned Refreshers began showing up in grocery stores in early 2012. I like these! These are indeed refreshing!
Starbucks Discoveries are now available at the grocery store – there is a mocha, vanilla, and a caramel macchiato flavor:
I’m not a huge fan of these either. I’ll pass on these too.
You can find a variety of Starbucks whole bean coffee too, And a variety of Via Ready Brew offerings. As to the whole bean coffee, your local grocery store is usually the only place that you’ll find a “core” (meaning that it’s always offered) Starbucks single-origin Colombia coffee – I highly recommend that you pick up the Colombia coffee:
As to the Refreshers Vias, at the grocery store, you’ll usually find Cool Lime, Very Berry Hibiscus, and Strawberry Lemonade. The Strawberry Lemonade Via is delicious! You must try these!
You can find Evolution Fresh juice, cartons of Tazo chai concentrate (including decaf chai), and of course you can find Seattle’s Best Coffee too!
There is still more at the local grocery store! There are a variety of Starbucks K-cup pods, including Tazo tea pods for the Keurig single serve machine:
And, there are a variety Tazo teas in filter bags:
Starbucks recently launched a bottled iced coffee. I do like the iced coffees – they’re pretty good. There’s more – Starbucks double shot drinks in cans. I’ve always thought that the idea of espresso in a can is a little weird, but they seem to be very popular.
Hope you enjoyed this walk through my grocery store with me! What do you think? How about a Starbucks CPG passport for both customers and partners? Which one is your favorite? What would you want to see in the grocery store?
22 Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Socialize
OK. I know I must sound really, really stupid — but what exactly IS a Starbucks Passport??
@Bobby – Sorry about that! I’ve been writing about Starbucks for so long, I sometimes forget to explain things. For many years, Starbucks has produced “Coffee Passports” for their baristas. It’s a little page that walks you through the variety of Starbucks coffees offered. Page by page, it tells you about each coffee, and has room on the page for the barista to write their tasting notes. In years past, baristas put coffee stickers on each page as they finished working through it – the era of the rolls and rolls of coffee stickers is nearly gone, which makes me a little sad.
So a CPG booklet would be along the same lines – it’s a guide. It would walk you through each Starbucks-produced offering at the grocery story, and give you a little information about what’s being offered.
Melody I find this very interesting. I must say next time I go into my grocery store I have to take a closer look at the SB products because from your list I can tell you I do not see all the items around here. I suppose this is another example of what works in what region. I actually liked the SB ice cream but have not purchased it in quite some time. I remember when I used to see coupons for it.
Thanks, Melody!!
This is awesome. I would love to see one of these. You have to imagine it would drive business, too!
I noticed in my weekly Meijer ad that Jamba Juice frozen smoothies and Seattle’s Best frozen coffee blends are 2 for $4.00 this week. I’ve never seen these before but am anxious to try both. The flavors pictured are Jamba Juice Razzmatazz & Seattle’s Best Very Vanilla.
@Melody-Hello!
Dreyer’s and Ben & Jerry’s is all part of Unilever Ice Cream business which is actually quite Global in scope of operations. Starbucks Ice Cream was never compelling to me(other then every off-chance).
New round of Starbucks K-Cup’s on the mend(saw them at my Grocery store) Chai Tea K-Cups(Tazo),Caramel and Vanilla K-Cup’s!
This would be a great idea for an app. Maybe and addition to the current Starbucks app.
Mel this post was fantastic! I too have clearly missed out on some of my local stores offerings perhaps… THANK YOU!
@Leslee – I am glad you liked it! It’s amazing the variety of Starbucks products in the grocery store now!
The Starbucks CPG line surely has grown over the years! I’ve tried everything except the Evolution Fresh products, K-cup pods, Starbucks Discoveries and Refresher Vias. Like you, I’m not sad about seeing the ice cream make its exist; there’s just too many other brands out there that soar with ice cream being their niche market.
My favorites are the coffees (both Starbucks and Seattle’s Best) and the Iced Frappuccinos or Iced Coffees when I’m in a pinch for caffeine. You know what I would like to see in the grocery store? A full loaf of the Lemon Loaf/Pound Cake before they switch over to La Boulange nationwide. Hahaha, I’m kidding, I’m kidding. But man that Lemon Loaf is good!
@Kristina – I think the CPG segment will be crazy some day – I can imagine we’ll see Teavana in the grocery store some day! And the believe it or not, there are a few CPG items I’ve never tried – Those canned double shots have never looked good to me. And I’ve never tried any K-cup pods because I don’t have a K-cup machine.
Just as an aside, at work, lots of people come to my office and for some reason see me as the person to go complain about Starbucks. Just tonight, a co-worker was really lamenting the loss of the old lemon loaf at Starbucks. The La Boulange one doesn’t seem to hit the spot for the customers who really liked the Starbucks lemon loaf.
@Melody – Well that just confirms that over the course of the next year, I am obligated to pay homage to the Lemon Loaf by ordering an extra slice when I indulge in the bakery case items.
Oh but wait, do my eyes deceive me? There seems to be a copycat recipe out there on a cooking blog. Will this recipe be my saving grace? Will the legacy of the Lemon Loaf forever carry on in my humble kitchen? My heart just may go on after all. Ha! Okay, see, this is what happens when I stay up way too late reading blogs and recipes. 🙂
But seriously, I’m still looking forward to the La Boulange switch and possible Teavana CPG items in the future. Somehow I keep forgetting Teavana now falls under the Starbucks umbrella. I wonder if our locations have been renovated with the acquisition.
I have never been as disappointed as I was when I went to purchase my Starbucks Java Chip Ice Cream a few months ago, only to discover it has been discontinued. That is beyond my comprehension…..the Starbucks Ice Creams were the creamiest, richest, most decadent ice cream I have EVER had. So sad. My 2 granddaughters were just as sad and disappointed as I am.
I’m with Jeanette. Starbucks ice cream was the best ice cream I’ve ever had, and I miss it terribly!
I loved Starbucks ice cream and was so disappointed when they stop making the ice cream. It was so good and the flavors were great, I really miss not being able to bring some home and enjoy!
Disappointment doesn’t describe the loss of Starbucks ice cream, I don’t eat ice cream, but I loved Starbuck’s java chip, it was soooooo decadent. I can’t believe I can’t buy it anymore. Guess I will have to start making it myself – jeez you would think after getting us hooked on it that at least they would sell it in their Starbuck’s coffee counters.
I agree with Jeanette, Karen, Jude, and Denise. Why did they discontinue their ice cream and what are the possibilities of their ice cream coming back?
I agree with Lisa. It’s the best ice cream and tastes better than Haagen Dazs and all others. Please bring it back!
I couldn’t agree more. There is no substitution for this ice cream.
I too was madly in love with the Java Chip ice cream… It’s been over a year now and I still think about it and hope it will either come back or Unilever will release it under a different brand name. Absolutely no comparison to any other ice cream…
Still don’t know why they dc’d and want to slap whoever made that decision! It even made my stomachaches go away. It was magical…
I may be in the minority, but I absolutely LOVED the Starbucks Caramel Macchiato Ice Cream!!! It was like having a macchiato in an ice cream dish, so tasty! And I loved having it in my freezer whenever the craving hit……say midnight, and Starbucks wasn’t open. 😉 Wish this ice cream was still available!!!