I discovered that Starbucks has a small snack food test going on. In hit and miss areas of California, you’ll find three pre-packaged snack food items, all of which are not available in Starbucks stores nationwide.
The three snack food items are all labeled gluten free. It appears to me that these are being tested to trying and provide some new options for customers following a gluten free diet.
The three items are as follows:
1) “That’s It.” brand snack bars. There are two different flavors. One is apple – mango and the other is apple – blueberry. They appear to be small bars made by a California-based company specializing in fruit bars that are GMO free and gluten free. More information is at http://www.thatsitfruit.com.
2) Justin’s dark chocolate peanut butter cups. I’ve have been told that there is a milk chocolate version found in some Starbucks, but I have not seen those yet. The peanut butter cups are organic. For more information, here’s their website. http://justins.com/item/dark-chocolate-peanut-butter-cup-single/
3) Ocean’s Halo brand seaweed chips. There are two flavors available at Starbucks stores – Chili Lime and Sea Salt. I was digging through their website at http://www.oceanshalo.com and somewhere saw that two percent of their profits go to good-cause organizations involved in protecting the ocean.
If you’ve had the chance to try these snacks, let me know what you think! I always find these small tests pretty interesting and thought you’d like it too. Feel free to weigh in on anything related to these snacks or gluten free options at Starbucks.
19 Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Socialize
Not at Starbucks, but I have bought some of the Justin’s Dark Chocolate PB Cups before. They taste good, you can’t tell they are made with organic products. I just remember they cost way more than a Reese’s PB Cup.
The Justin’s peanut butter cups are really good, I bought at my local starbucks here in barstow, ca. They are pricey but with organic products that’s just how it goes. I did see the seaweed chips but was hesitant to try them haha. I haven’t seen the bars but I will be on the look out for them! They sound delightful! 🙂
Not at Starbucks either, but I have tried both the Justin’s dark chocolate peanut butter cups and the That’s It bars.
I absolutely LOVE the Justin’s. I only eat foods that are natural, vegetarian (the dark chocolate ones are actually vegan!!), not heavily-processed, GMO-free and preferably organic, so I had to try them the first time I laid eyes upon them at Whole Foods. The quality of the chocolate is, well, excellent, but then again it’s not hard to be better than the ‘chocolate’ in a Reese’s. The peanut butter is great and just faintly salty, which is to be expected as the brand is first and foremost a nut butter company.
The That’s It bars are pretty delicious too. They’re just mashed up and dried fruit – hence the name, that’s it. If you like dried fruit, you’ll like them.
I think it’s great that Starbucks is carrying these items and I hope this expands to all of their stores soon. I am not a celiac, but I would definitely pick up one of these snacks every once in a while.
Although I haven’t tried the peanut butter cups, I enjoy Justin’s nut butters, so I’m sure both the dark and milk chocolate peanut butter cups are awesome. I’m most surprised by the seaweed snack option at Starbucks. Roasted dried seaweed is delicious and I eat it often, but just seems an odd pairing with coffee drinks. Oh wait, I’m forgetting about the tea drinks. Okay, so the seaweed snacks would work well with an iced tea beverage. Mmmm. 🙂
Starbucks used to have justin’s nut butters to accompany some whole grain rolls they offered a few years ago. I really really liked those, and loved the nut butters. I was super sad when they discontinued them.
I too have tried the Justin’s products and they are quite good and would think they would sell nicely at SB stores even though they are more expensive than normal peanut butter cups. I would like to see this go national.
Proud of Sbux for recognizing the need for change in an ever changing snack food market. Gluten free diets are big right now, for many reasons and I hate telling people that our only gluten free option is the Marshmallow Dream Bar! I would love to see these sell nationally, or at least in stores surrounding Manhattan, where we have a large gluten free eating population 🙂
I have seen Justin’s brands in the Starbucks in chagrin falls before a while ago , there was a few things . isn’t that the brand of peanut butter in the Starbucks protein bistro box?
YUMMMMM!
I’ve been gluten-free for a year and it’s been a great help to my joints. So, I’ve been careful not to buy any baked goods at Starbucks and seriously disappointed that you haven’t offered anything tempting for gluten-free folks like me. C’mon — it isn’t that difficult!
I’m pretty sure that’s my store! Did you try them Mel? I’m not a fan of the seaweed chips, though some customers and partners LOVE them. I have a love hate relationship with the peanut butter cups! I love that they taste so delicious, I hate that they are soooo accessible to me!
@IanHaywood: Sorry I didn’t reply sooner. Your comment got lost in a sea of giveaway comments. Sorry. Yep – I took all of these photos at your Starbucks location! I tried that That’s It bars and really liked them. I didn’t try the peanutbutter cup. On my drive from south orange county to Orange in Orange County, the darn thing melted to a gooey mess while sitting in my car. The sea chips were just okay – not my thing.
I hear that the Justin’s Peanut Butter cups will be nationwide in Starbucks on June 24th? I’m only hearing that as gossip – is that true?
We just got the summer phase 2 info and we are getting the bars and the PB cups in a few weeks 🙂
@barbara the marshmallow dream bars are gluten free as well
@back2starbucks yup, that’s the honey PB in the protein box 🙂
@melody it’s true! We just got the summer phase 2 info and June 24 we get the bars and the PB cups at my store!!!
I’ll just echo what Amanda said above, I just noticed yesterday in my local store’s pastry case the Marshmallow Dream Bars were still in their wrapper and marked ‘gluten free’. I’ve never had this particular brand of seaweed chips, but I’ve had others and they’re pretty addicting!
The lime flavored seaweed chips are amazing!
OMG those Justin’s Peanut Butter Cups better not come to my store because I will LITERALLY eat them ALL!!
Hello! I found this post while trying to determine whether or not the Justin’s dark chocolate peanut butter cups are vegan. I always believed they were, as I think the label used to read “Ingredients (VEGAN):” and because of this I was so excited to see that they were now being sold at starbucks registers (I’m in NJ)! However, I was just looking at the package and not only does it NOT say “vegan”, but after it lists all the ingredients it says “Contains: peanuts, soy, tree nuts, MILK” !!!!!! So is it possible that these are no longer vegan? I would be so disappointed… and yes, I definitely bought the “Justin’s 2 dark chocolate organic peanut butter cups” Anyone have any thoughts on this? Am I missing something? Did the ingredients change?? According to the website the ingredients seem vegan, but why on the actual package does it say that it contains milk?! 🙁 someone please help!
Has anyone tried the Starbucks Gourmet Popcorn….I am so hooked on it. It is tasty but only certain stores have them. I am in the Santa Monica area and have only found it at two of the Starbucks locations here.