Starbucks extends cold beverage line with addition of 3 Refreshers

Dive Brief:

Starbucks added three Starbucks Refreshers to its permanent menu this week, the company said in a post Tuesday.
The new Refreshers flavors are frozen pineapple passionfruit lemonade, frozen strawberry açai lemonade and frozen mango dragon fruit lemonade.
Starbucks Refreshers are the fastest growing beverage at corporate-owned stores in the U.S. as of 2021, the company said.

Dive Insight:

Starbucks has been leaning heavily on cold drinks, which made up 76% of total beverage sales in its U.S. company-owned stores as of the end of fiscal Q4 2022, former interim-CEO Howard Schultz said in a November earnings call.

“Since Starbucks Refreshers Beverages joined the menu in 2012, our customers and partners (baristas) have creatively customized their beverages, such as adding coconutmilk, lemonade or blending with ice,” Matt Thornton, senior beverage developer at Starbucks, said in a statement. “Inspired by these customer and partner creations, we’re excited to bring the new Frozen Lemonade Starbucks Refreshers Beverages to the permanent menu this summer.”

Earlier this year, Starbucks added Oleato drinks, which combine arabica coffee and Partanna cold pressed extra virgin olive oil, in select markets. In early June it expanded the product to 11 new states: Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Texas and Vermont. That menu includes two cold drinks and a latte. After its February launch, CEO Laxman Narasimhan said Oleato had performed exceptionally well in driving customer awareness.

The company is also in the midst of updating its equipment, which could allow it to pursue additional menu innovations. Its handheld cold foam blender is expected to be rolled out systemwide by the company’s fiscal third quarter, Narasimhan said. This blender will better support customer demand for cold foam customization, he said.

Starbucks also began rolling out its Clover Vertica brewers during its fiscal second quarter. This brewer, which offers the “freshest Clover brewed coffee,” will be in about 40% of its company-owned U.S. locations by the end of its fiscal year. It also will drive efficiencies and reduce waste across its system, he said. In September, the coffee chain debuted a new kitchen layout called Siren System that eliminates the need for baristas to open refrigerators while making cold drinks. The system is designed to reduce physical intensity on workers and boost speed of service.