Dive Brief:

• Starbucks has added two caffeinated iced beverages, under the moniker Starbucks Iced Energy, which combine carbonation and fruit flavors in a sparkling iced tea to its permanent menu, the company announced Tuesday. 
• The announcement was accompanied by the addition of a nondairy vanilla sweet cream and a nondairy vanilla sweet cream cold foam — made from an amalgamation of soy and oatmilk — a Caramel Vanilla Swirl Iced Coffee and two food items, the Egg, Pesto & Mozzarella Sandwich, and the Blueberry Streusel Muffin.
• Starbucks has limited the size of its iced energy drinks to 20 ounces, and the company said their caffeine content, between 180 mg and 205 mg, is comparable to a 16-ounce cold brew. The limit on caffeine content follows Panera’s decision to remove its infamous charged lemonade from the menu, and coincides with McDonald’s ongoing tests of extremely caffeinated drinks at CosMc’s. 

Dive Insight:

The menu additions are in keeping with the strategies Starbucks has pursued recently in an effort to reverse its traffic troubles. In January, the chain announced that it would roll out several new drink platforms in 2024, targeted to the afternoon daypart and to occasional visitors. 

The two iced drinks include the Melon Burst Iced Energy, which combines melon and cucumber flavor’s with the chain’s Passion Tea, and the Tropical Citrus Iced Energy which, by contrast, has a green tea base and is flavored with citrus and passionfruit. The chain also added a Frozen Tropical Citrus Iced Energy with Strawberry Puree for a limited time and solely for customers ordering in-app. The company has offered its caffeinated Refresher beverages that use lemonade as a base. Those drinks tend to have about 45 mg of caffeine for a 16-ounce size, a fairly low concentration of the chemical. 

Like Sonic’s recent beverage additions, the Iced Energy drinks combine fruity flavors with a visually striking presentation, which could make them stand out on social media.

Late last year, the chain also announced it planned to increase its investment in bakery items and snack food options, as its sales of food neared $6 billion in North America in FY 2023.

The nondairy sweet cream also fit into the chain’s longstanding emphasis on cold coffee. Cold coffee, by 2022, accounted for about 70% of Starbucks beverage sales, while customizations to drinks drove approximately $1 billion in revenue for the brand that year. However, the chain has faced issues with order completion in recent quarters, as long waits — driven in part by customization and complexity — have driven the non-completion rate for mobile orders above 10%.