Confirmed: Warm breakfast sandwiches to stay on Starbucks' menu

After Starbucks Gossip and its commenters first reported that warm breakfast sandwiches are not being discontinued as previously announced by Starbucks, the company released this statement: "We have made ingredient changes to the current breakfast sandwich lineup. We have found small ingredient changes that address the aroma issues of our current breakfast sandwiches, and have implemented these already. We are not reversing our decision [cough, bullshit, cough] to replace the breakfast sandwiches, but rather we are continuing to evolve our food offerings." (I inserted the part in italics, btw.) (Read the Reuters story)

> Earlier: Starbucks says it is discontinuing warm breakfast sandwiches 

Comments

[blindsided]

Boo.

Starbucks principles mean absolutely nothing when compared to the almighty dollar.

[urbanartiste]

I know alot of people are against the breakfast sandwiches, but I was glad they were there. Not everyone in my family wants to go to Starbucks and these sandwiches made it easier to convince them. While I ate my coffee and scone, they were able to get a breakfast sandwich.

[the boy]

I don't know whether to sigh or keel over in laughter.

[javajane]

Sounds once again like the higher ups just don't get it...geez, when was the last time any of them actually was in a store?! It's not the sandwiches that cause those funky smells, it's those horrific ovens. I didn't have warming when I worked there, but I've watched baristas put all sorts of stuff in those ovens to heat up and the cleaning fumes made my eyes water so much I had to leave the store.

[Trent]

As much as I like the decision because we really need the sales....Howard Schultz just sold off the the rights to his credibility and our company's soul.

Time to start looking for another job. There is no hope for bringing romance and theater off a coffee house to our stores again.

[AnnoyedASM]

This is getting ridiculous. So, Howard coming back really was just another PR move. I don't get it.

McDonalds is NOT our competition.

We are a coffee company.

I'm sorry, but this is not a decision I can stand behind. And as I read in a district email once, "If you don't believe, you need to leave." Well, I think it's time.

[kilroy]

I remember seeing a dad with his grammer school daughter early one school day sitting in my local SBUX.She had a sandwich and milk;he had coffee and a pastry.They wouldn't have been there without the sandwiches--I was glad to see them and i'm glad to hear the sandwiches will stay.

[WAShift]

My biggest issue with breakfast sandwiches is the fact that DT stores are pushed to be fast, but these sandwiches slow us down. Especially on weekends when families come through the DT, and decided when they get to the window to order multiple sandwiches.

[SBUX JOKER]

OKAY i am sick of making a 3 minute drink instead of making 4 ice drink + 1 hot and + 1 frap i hate warming up pastries and now sandwich OMG

[Concerned SM]

OMG--this is possibly the funniest story I've read about this crazy company we work for.

Howard literally toured the country talking about how bad the "smell" of the cheese burning in the ovens is and how he "was never a fan of them in the first place," then we "adjust" the ingredients (which was replacing two pieces of cheese with one thicker piece to presumably stop the cheese from leaking out all over those filthy ovens), and then this. And it’s all the more funny because just this morning a sandwich that went into the oven whole, slid apart during cooking and left a huge burned cheese mess in the oven (with that lovely smell all day) and all that got me through was thinking about how the sandwiches were changing to some new sandwich, and here we are back-tracking yet again.

It’s time to wake up people. As someone who invested too much time and energy into buying into the philosophies of this company, I can tell you, unequivocally, that Howard Schultz cares about nothing but raising the stock price so he can bail. These “transformational agendas” were all in place long before Howard came back (it’s all a PR Stunt, and if you don’t believe me take a look at the copy write on the PPR cups---2007).

Next week we release our appalling Q3 results. And with it, the number of SSC partners, RVP’s, RDO’s and DM’s that “Poured their Hearts Into It.”

I’ve stopped drinking the Kool-Aid (and I drank a lot of it), and now all I’m left with is a bad taste in my mouth.

Shame on you, Howard Schultz. You’ve forever lost my support. Now it’s just a job to me.

My family thanks you.

[Mark]

Just like with everything else, their solution is simple -- get everyone hyped about "change," come up with BS PR to cover it up, keep the product, and cut the labor we give to our partners to get it done, and then tell the partners they'll be held accountable if it doesn't get done in the same amount of time. It's what they've been practicing for the last two years.

[imabarista]

No.
Not in Ohio.
Not anytime soon.
Tax reasons and BoH will delay this for years.

This will be a good baseline for deciding if the sandwiches help the bottom line: Will we make more by selling them than we lose by customers and employees who go elsewhere?

I have been in 2 stores with the warming oven. One smelled of burnt bread, not cheese, the other of an electrical fire.

[bichywon]

I'm in Ohio... we're getting them.
August 11th to be exact.

[Trent]

My guess is that Howard was going to announce this anyways in the earnings conference call next week to soften up the impending news of missed earnings per share estimates.

[drive]

While they are cleaning house, maybe they should start afresh with a new PR staff that speaks English, not gobbledygook.

There are big problems with those awful ovens.
The are noisy, they take up valuable space, they require different equipment like spatulas and paper products and cleaning chemicals and that sandwich refrigerator thing. They consume lots of labor because it takes ages to clean them and to daydot the sandwiches. There is no evidence that pressing the "warming" button a lot increases the labor allotted. I don't object to warm food, but this particular way of warming is problematic.

[dmanagerla(former)]

well, maybe my neighborhood store, that got ovens installed in January will begin selling breakfast sandwiches now. Arcadia 2, are you listening? don't you want to bonus bigger????

helloooooo????

[Nicholaus]

Well, after nearly 7 years with the company (Nov. 2001) I've bailed. I've been so proud to work for this company for so long, but the last year has been so horrible. I see nothing that makes me even able to think optimistically, between Vivanno, Breakfast Sandwiches, Pikes Place being the only coffee, etc. We are moving further and further away from what we do right.

Let's throw everything we can think of against the wall and see what sticks.

It's just one convoluted mess and I'm so happy I've gotten out now, and not 6 months from now when I will have grown to hate the company that I've loved so long.

[Me]

I'm glad they aren't going. I spend endless hours upon hours in my local Starbucks store. During any one stint I purchase at least 3 drinks and usually something to eat at least once - love that spinach feta wrap... anyways, I never leave that store smelling of anything but coffee. And while I'm in that store for hours I can't say that I even notice the smell of the sandwiches... then again this is a customer's viewpoint and not the employee who works closer to the over.

[Coffee Please]

BLAME Sbux PR FOR SCHULTZ'S POOR CRED

No doubt Schultz regularly pumps COO Martin Cole on how they're going to make the numbers. Now both men seem to think the smell of cheese from breakfast sandwiches isn't so bad after all.

To launch Howard's Act 2, Cole, sbux PR and the company's outside PR agencies have all failed; namely sub-par efforts for commuication planning, message development and brand management. The list of mis-steps reads like a "How Not To Guide": smarmy memos from Howard issued like press releases, PR stunts passed off as news (training), and store closure announcements.

If the sbux's PR unit is as weak as it seems to be, then Cole, who has oversight of the function, must clean house and find people who have brand communications expertise -- which includes not thinking out loud and being able to tell the emperor when he has no clothes on. Now, get moving Cole!

[BAYAREABUX]

Nothing in the Starbucks statement confirms that the current breakfast sandwiches will stay after Sept 30. Rather, it only confirms that the sandwiches were modified to reduce the aroma as an interim solution until the new warming/food program rolls FY 09.

I still think they're leaving. As I previously mentioned, they've already left my menu!!!

[Hmm]

Yeah, I'd have to agree with the above post. They specifically state that they're not going back on what they said, and that they're still going. They won't bail on something that keeps customers in the store until they've got something ready to go, which Howard says is "ready to go" but playing catch up with the other food offerings, which IMHO are being revamped as an "afterthought" (though not in the negative sense of the term, just that if they're going to redo warming then why not everything.)

I don't know about the US market, but in Canada we were instructed to take away everything related to breakfast sandwiches, and then later that day put it all back - the reasoning was "if we're going to do something, no matter how bad, we might as well do it 110%" which makes perfect sense.

---

As for the comment about the PPR cups being 2007 - this might simply come down to a technicality. I mean, I think it says either in a FORTUNE article, or that Portfolio article that Howard went through three or four iterations of the "updated" Siren before settling on one. This couldn't have been true if the cups were premade with the old logo. There's also another article where Michelle Gass (SVP of Strategy) is talking about their "war room", which has the next five or so years mapped out. And they threw out most of the old promos to do that.

God, I wish Jim Donald would get on here and post a few stories about what he knows.

[Bradley]

Howard... WHOEVER IS IN CHARGE...??? Please... for the sake of the SOUL of the COMPANY... for tenured partners like myself who have stuck by you through thick and through thin and the thinnest thin... WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE!!!!! Hot breakfast sandwiches are a *BAD* idea! You want to sell more but do you realize how long a customer who wants one tall drip will now have to WAIT???

-Bradley in Las Vegas-

[Matt F]

On top of keeping the sandwiches, we now all get the joy of lower height espresso machines, so we can stare at these fat slobs knoshing on their breakfast sandwiches while they wait for their iced venti, triple decaf extra caramel, extra whip cream caramel macchiato's.

(Quote of the day)

"So, me watching, he comes at me with the coffee frappucino...WHY SO UNDERWEIGHT?...He sticks the straw in my mouth...LETS PUT SOME FAT ON THAT FACE!"

[Cut Out the Heart]

I read everyone's post with great interest. I think what you are seeing at Sbux is a result of Howard's ego getting the best of him. He has begun to believe the press clippings from all those years. He has become the worst abberation of what he stated in his book he feared Starbucks would become. He thinks he is Steve Jobs when all he is is a guy that is letting his ego get in the way of rational decision making.

Then to top it off, he brings in a guy like Martin Coles who has surrounded himself with his buddies from International. High quality people are leaving for other jobs. Martin has ordered cuts in headcount and basing it on only current job performance and nothing else. He is expanding spans of control under the guise that it will put the accountability at the unit level. Well, I hate to break it to Mr. Coles but these tactics have been done before in the quick service industry and failed miserably. Looks like he is reading his old business management book from prep school. Litte behind the times my friend. Also,I am always suspicious of a leader who can only lead his/her cronies. This is a sign of weak leadership and more a symbol of a manager. Sbux has prided itself on being different then the rest. Easy to say when things are going well but now that they have hit a bump in the road, we are seeing that they are no better then any other company.

The issue of breakfast or no breakfast is just another small example of the total lack of leadership being displayed. What is happening at Sbux is similar to what is going on in the banking industry. Decisions being made to satisfy today and prop up stock price. Who benefits the most from the price of stock going up? Sure the shareholders but name a couple of big shareholders off the top of your head...Schultz, Coles, and all their henchmen. You are correct.

I would suggest to the employees who remain, if you see good people leaving or being asked to leave because all of sudden Martin Coles has redefined the meaning of success, stand up and let them know. I have heard that employee survey's are in progress now, well make sure you say your piece. There is power in your voice. Express your frustration at the losses and all the idiotic changes.

Okay, I feel better now.

[Tall Drip]

God, those things reek of burning plastic when warmed. I'm not entirely sure why they smell like that, but it doesn't make me want to get one.

"Decisions being made to satisfy today and prop up stock price."

You just described life at a publicly-traded company in the USA, in a nutshell.

[Argentius]

I STILL can't tell if they mean they are staying indefinitely, or if they are just making them better, for a little while.

I still hear major changes to the food program are in store.

I HOPE the Egg McMuffins go away for good. A big thumbs down if they don't. The new versions still smell bad, they still distract from the coffee side of it.

They DO sell quite a bit, they do add a couple of thousand in sales a week at my store. What I don't know is whether or not they really contribute much to profit: their margins aren't great, and we have to throw quite a few away.

[BeanThroughtheWars]

>As for the comment about the PPR cups being 2007 - this might simply come down to a technicality.

I work in Starbucks Global Creative and I can confirm that. Work began on those cups in 2007, not because of a "PR agenda" but because the lead times on cups really are that long. That's why they have a 2007 copyright date.

[Limey]

Wow, lots of impassioned speak on pending housecleaning among the ranks at SBUX. I'm sure it won't be too surprising that when it comes down and the dust settles, the Admiral and his Commanders will have axed more of their faithful crew which has only been following their misguided orders. But alas, the high ranking officials will find themselves in the same high seas with less man power to bring the fleet home safely. Indeed, I wouldn't expect any high level people to go when the layoffs happen...that would be the day when you see some real change in the organization!

[maggie]

MATT F --

please keep the fat hate to yourself; or better still, get rid of it. that was entirely unnecessary and uncalled for. the only thing your post was good for was to show how much of a bigot you are.

let's keep the conversation on how awful it is that the sandwiches are back from the dead.

[Tangalang]

Matt F: That was made of pure win. Gotta love the Joker quotage.

[larry berry goat]

I think we should approach this with a bit more subtlety than simply saying 'bux did an aboutface'.

As I recall, if you actually parsed the words of their announcement at the ?beginning? of this year, they ALWAYS said that they were going to bring new food options into the stores. They were extremely cryptic about what those options would be, but - I could be wrong on this but I remember noticing it so I think I'm on point here - they never said 'no more hot sanwdwiches ever'

So, it's not that they're being hypocrits now. It's that they were being corporate spin-junkies back then, and they're just being true to their corporate spin-junkie ... spin.

[tallgrandeventi]

Wow, I just don'tunderstand the venom being spewed toward Howard on this one. I think it's a great decision and I'm a store partner. He listened to our customers as he always does and made some small changes to keep the program. Everone who works in our store, is glad to hear they are staying.

It seems to be the tenured partners are most concerned about the warming program, not those hired after the fact. Ask those same partners how they feel about blended beverages? You will get the same concerns I suspect.

We have warming in our store and our customers love the sandwiches and are glad to hear they're staying. To those concerned about the aroma, our store doesn't smell like burnt cheese or chemicals because we throughly clean our oven each day. A clean oven is not going to smell up the store. You might want to put the same passion into it as you do on the Espresso bar and you would be surprised at the result.

In my opinion the sandwiches weren't to blame for the loss of coffee aroma. It was the grinding and scouping of beanse in our stores, which once again brough the smell of coffee back to our stores. It simply proved successful so there was no need to dump the warming program.

[Joe]

Starbucks lies to its customers. May they burn in hell. (Oh wait, that's what they do to their beans...)

[WM]

I thought Howard said it was supposed to be "all about the coffee" again? I personally don't mind Vivannos - but a friend of mine - I swear his heart was broken - the other day we went into SBUX - and then again the next day. BOTH times, he was annoyed - because the store smelled like bananas. I grabbed a coffee this morning, and I swear my nearby SBUX smelled like bananas too. There's something fundamentally wrong with walking into a coffeehouse and not having it... smell like coffee. Hopefully they can find something for a mid-afternoon snack that'll add yet another non-coffee aroma to the stores. Maybe pizza? That's Italian too.

When Howard went to Italy years ago and fell in love with the romance of the espresso experience - something tells me nuked sammiches and banana-based smoothies weren't a part of that romance.

[Former Brooklyn Barista]

I couldn't agree with you more, WM & Nicholaus.

I was saying the same exact things that you both are saying. It's really a shame what happened to this once wonderful company that I was once so proud to work for.

I left almost a year ago and thank God I did every day. I left when it was starting to get really bad, but I didn't think it'll end up getting this bad.

I've said this before in some of my previous posts in other sections and I'll say it again, I've stopped going to Starbucks in the morning because the one across the street from my job smells so strongly of burnt grease in the morning that it makes me sick to my stomach. I would get so nauseous that I would have to leave. A coffee house doesn't do that to you. Starbucks is no longer a coffee house, they've lost their soul. And Howard, I hope you're reading this...YOU'VE FAILED US! You've failed your partners and you've failed your customers. And you know what? Thanks. Thanks a lot. Because of Starbucks' downward spiral, I've discovered what true coffee is like as well as what a true coffeehouse experience is like.

People, if you live in NYC or any other major big city that gives you a wide variety of indie coffeehouses to choose from, please, take advantage! The first time I ever laid eyes on a REAL latte made with that beautifully steamed milk in the design of a leaf in my pre-warmed mug, I instantly fell in love. To see everyone waiting patiently as their drink was made just for them to perfection using individual steam pitchers was just mind boggling. No roaring of blenders. No beeping of ovens. The overwhelming aroma of freshly ground and brewed coffee. THAT was the third place. Something I remember Starbucks being long long ago.

[tallgrandeventi]

I love the Vivannos and so do our customers, but I must admit the bananas have to go. Our store is spotless and we religiously follow the standards and immediately take the peels out of our store to the trash, but yesterday we found our first fruit fly in an box of bananas we had just opened. I also must admit the banana smell is obvious when you come in the store. While the grinding of coffee beans in house returned the aroma of coffee to our stores, the banana fragrance overpowers it.

Surely we can get the same nutrition and flavor from a refrigerated packaged banana. Come on R&D help us out here. :)

[dharmacup]

FORMER BROOKLYN BARISTA--

Oh man! Are you speaking my language! There really is nothing like a properly made latte. My first latte was made by my best friend's older brother who worked at the coolest local coffeehouse. Those details just brought me right back. Thanks! :)

On TOPIC--

Before I started at SBUX, I would get a breakfast sandwich and either a brewed coffee or an americano before I went into work. It actually was just easier to stop in, get my usual drink and a sandwich, and head off to work without another stop. The breakfast sandwich became a 'necessity'--I would pick one up because they were relatively inexpensive and were not loaded with empty sugar calories.

The usual pastry offerings make my stomach turn. I am fortunate enough to live with a fantastic baker who makes *the* best breads, cookies, cakes and scones that I have ever had. So, those stale offerings in the pasrty case don't tempt me at all.

I like going into independent shops and checking out what they have for baked goods. The selection and variety is always different. So, when someone goes into a different SBUX and sees the same boring coffeecake they get at their local SBUX, don't you think that turns them off too?

What really sours my stomach is cutting open those shrink-wrapped pastries and trying to upsell customers on one of those beastly items.

[Tiger Horse]

This is so fascinating, these reports of banana smells. I frequent a round (~4) of starbucks in my area (as a customer rather than a worker) - and I haven't smelled a banana smell at all. Perhaps this is something that those behind the counter (because they are closer to the source) are picking up, but not customers? Admittedly, 4 stores isn't a huge sample, but you'd think, after ?2-3 weeks? of the rollout, I'd smell something.

[Howardsafukinmoron]

To no surprise to many of us, the sandwiches are here to stay. The profits are too large and once again, as with everything else, he's selling out from sticking to coffee. For all of you that think Howard Schultz is a genius for turning Starbucks into what it has become, guess again. All he did was get lucky with an idea, and now his business savviness, or there lack of is showing. Just like what happened with the Seattle Sonics, he'll end up an utter failure and cop out. HAHAHAHAHA

[Cali ASM]

Former Brooklyn Barista:

Wow, you've said exactly what I have been thinking.

I'll never forget when I walked into my Starbucks store for the first time (before I worked there of course).

I remember the coffee aroma. The relaxed atmosphere, and the friendly workers who really seemed relaxed and enjoyed their jobs.

When I first started working there that was also the way it was.

Now, not so.

I wish there were independent coffeehouses in my town. I would so go there!

I did go to one in San Francisco last year and I certainly did not mind waiting (patiently) for my cappuccino. By the way, the cake I had there was soooo good too!

[CoffeeMaster33]

Call me a traitor, but I really hope we get the breakfast sandwiches here. I'm in a market that doesn't have salads, sandwiches, wraps, or anything. If there'd be a way to get the warmed sandwiches here, that'd be amazing. I have to explain to a customer at least once a week why we don't have the offerings that other Starbucks have, and especially why we don't have breakfast sandwiches. It would definitely change the way I visit Starbucks as a customer.

[Gone for Good]

I had decided to return when the shops started smelling like coffee again. It appears I will not be returning. Luckily, we have some excellent options here...one or two know how to actually pull a cup.

It is really a shame that *$ has gone so far astray. The rush to "compete" with DD and McD has resulted in nothing but *$'s lowering their own standards to match the proverbial competition. Quite sad.

[Goat Berry Goat]

"The profits are too large"

but

"now his business savviness, or there lack of is showing"

... hmm ...

who's the "fukin moron"?

[Westcoast Barista]

Oh DHARMACUP, always the voice of reason on this blog!

"Before I started at SBUX, I would get a breakfast sandwich and either a brewed coffee or an americano before I went into work."

Me too!! It was always the "running late" excuse in the morning. Plus, it helped that there was a Sbux immediately across the street from my office.

"The usual pastry offerings make my stomach turn...What really sours my stomach is cutting open those shrink-wrapped pastries and trying to upsell customers on one of those beastly items."

Part of my review was using more "creative" descriptions for the upsell of the pastries. And I kept thinking to myself, since I wouldn't pay $1.95 for that, why would I recommend it to others?!?

But like I said before, good on Howard for reversing his ill-conceived, emotion-based decision to axe the breakfast sandwich! It's just too bad that many others on this site can't realize how by making this decision, he just saved your store from being closed!

[Westcoast Barista]

Oh DHARMACUP, always the voice of reason on this blog!

"Before I started at SBUX, I would get a breakfast sandwich and either a brewed coffee or an americano before I went into work."

Me too!! It was always the "running late" excuse in the morning. Plus, it helped that there was a Sbux immediately across the street from my office.

"The usual pastry offerings make my stomach turn...What really sours my stomach is cutting open those shrink-wrapped pastries and trying to upsell customers on one of those beastly items."

Part of my review was using more "creative" descriptions for the upsell of the pastries. And I kept thinking to myself, since I wouldn't pay $1.95 for that, why would I recommend it to others?!?

But like I said before, good on Howard for reversing his ill-conceived, emotion-based decision to axe the breakfast sandwich! It's just too bad that many others on this site can't realize how by making this decision, he just saved your store from being closed!

[imabarista]

Bichywon
Where in Ohio?

Real SBUX or license?

[Kat]

Ironically, B&N Cafe, which does have a greater focus on food, *is* discontinuing its breakfast sandwiches.

[dharmacup]

WESTCOAST BARISTA--

Hahaha, thank you for those kind words!

Yeah. I like to rattle the tree but it's interesting to see what kinda fruit falls off.

Sometimes a few nuts fall off, too. :)

Speaking of fruit, in my store the Orange Mango Vivanno seems to be doing well. I've made them with matcha, with/without the protein powder, with half a banana, soy and some strawberry sauce--people are modifying this already! So, I think SBUX 'programming' is working well.

I make smoothies at home as well, so this is nothing new to me. I'm always experimenting with the texture, temperature of the fruit, ice to liquid ratios, off-flavors. I enjoy the scientific process, so I'm also taking notes on who's been buying 'em:

People who don't want any caffeine. Even the thought of being inside a SBUX is too much caffeine for them.

Health conscious men who are unfamilar with SBUX but don't want to be empty handed when they meet their potential new client. Healthy image = $$$$.

Pregnant women who still want to get something at SBUX but want something different than a decaf version of their regular drink.

On Topic ---

It's actually been awhile since I had a breakfast sandwich, so I had one the other day. There were a few things I noticed about the old, stinky sandwiches and the new modified ones:

The old sandwiches had the tastier, more salty cheese. The sandwich wasn't as greasy as it was before but in a way, it wasn't as tasty as the old ones. The muffin seems to be less soft, maybe a sign of less butter/oil?

I'll have to try a few of the others again.

[Jeana Allison]

Hello... I am a first timer here... I love this web site... I am a Barista for Starbucks have been for 3 years... Although i love my company- due to their awesome benefits- however...the latest changes in the company have negative results so far- my opinion only- The Vivanno's take 3 minutes to make...speed of service- HA! our store is so "ghetto" we have old headsets that never work- they are "refurbished" and sent back to us- they weigh us down- long cords hanging all over us- we look like idiots trying to make espresso and blend "shakes" while becoming intertwined in another Barista's head set. All of the changes I see are nothing more than PR- sell, sell, sell- what? Cd's, games, books, dollar store merchandise- had a customer ask me the other day " Do you sell coffee here?" In the last week I have given customers... A free Vivanno coupon, a treat receipt, acard for a free 12 oz. drink, the daily pick- a song to download, and the customer voice survey... WOW!! I am frustrated... but still I stick it out. I LOVE BEING A BARISTA- I have been a barista for 17 years and the only reason I stay at Starbucks is their killer benefit package- which will probably go down the tube soon- Thanks readers for letting me vent. Give beans a chance!

[DirtyChai]

I remember when they first came out, having to make those breakfast sandwiches was just plain cruel. It was as if they hadn't even been tested because the cheese on those things was the cause of countless burns on partners' hands and arms and many incident reports. Little did the customer complaining on the other side know that the reason the breakfast sandwich took an extra two minutes to prepare was because Partner X had to run to the back because the hot, bubbling cheese was scalding her skin.
Regardless, I do believe changes have been made to them because it's been a while since that happened. But what a way to put a kink into a morning rush, having to stop expediting because your floor is never staffed enough to have a warmer.
From a business standpoint, I'd sooner see the bagels go because they cause similar kinks in the flow of everything for a significantly cheaper price.