Starbucks to begin selling $3.95 breakfast "pairings" on March 3

Customers can order a tall latte and an oatmeal or a slice of reduced-fat cinnamon swirl coffee cake. Drip coffee drinkers can get a tall brewed coffee with a breakfast sandwich at the same price. Starbucks will also launch two new breakfast sandwiches -- a bacon sandwich with egg and gouda cheese and a ham sandwich made with egg and cheddar. Read "Starbucks to sell value-meal pairings for $3.95" || "Starbucks Plays Common Joe" (WSJ) || Starbucks' press release

Comments

[halfdecaf]

Day 1 of launch: "Can I just get a caramel frappuccino instead of the latte????!?!"

Day 2 of launch: "Can I just get a blueberry muffin instead of the coffee cake?!?!?!?"

Day 3 of launch: "Welcome to Starbucks...would you like to try a breakfast combo today???!??"

[ash_sk8s]

I feel for the baristas who are going to have customers demanding something else in their "pairing'

[ash_sk8s]

I feel for the baristas who are going to have customers demanding something else in their "pairing'

[Oliver]

Would you like to Venti Size that?

[Kyle Maxwell]

It's pretty much what I order now, so for me, this works.

[Naptown Barista]

I guess all of the "creative minds" within the company have already been axed. Is this the BEST idea they could come up with? I can see the substitution requests from a mile away. Really amused?...“That they’re getting the world’s finest coffee [except Pike Place Roast], delicious food made [/frozen several months ago in a distant city, but sitting in the freezer]with quality ingredients [that most folks can't even pronounce], and an experience they can’t get anywhere else [especially with the most recent cuts in our labor].”

"Can we super-Venti-size that for you for just a dollar more?"

I'll give some credit for trying, but like everything else, this falls short. Why not simply "get an espresso drink, and your pastry purchase is half-price." Much simpler so customers can understand, and eliminates the inevitable substitution requests.

[Pouty Barista]

You mean STarbucks isn't going to force customers to learn to spout some ridiculous, made up language to get the discount?

"I'd like Hammittino Muffino Economoso" combo, please!

You mean I have to pay extra for a French Vanilla with that Hammittino????

SOme Value.

[Sarah Schoenholtz]

SO TRUE! I'm a barista and I can just see customers asking to "swap" items.

[BusyBean]

Here's how we can get save money, get decaf back all day, and get labor back for each transaction:

-Rename Vanilla Rooibus Tea Latte to Vanilla Red Bush Tea Latte and avoid customers trying and failing to pronounce it: +5 seconds.

-Get rid of pop-ups on the POS that nag about registering unregistered SBUX cards: +5 seconds.

-Get rid of pop-ups that tell the BARISTA how much money the customer saved (brilliant!): +2 seconds.

-Stop serving free water (even just talls - heck, if we can inconvenience paying decaf customers, why not the ones who expect freebies? surely they'd understand?) and sell Ethos instead: +10 seconds +$$$.

Those are just a few. There's many more, I'm sure.

[energybolt]

Have it your way - Have it your way! Anyone remember that little jingle?! Here it comes again!

[Argentius]

Wait, wait, and there's a NEW breakfast sandwich?

With ham, egg, and cheddar?

Really?

How novel!

[goon]

According to the documents I'm looking at right now...no substitutions allowed.

How this works with just say yes I have no idea.

[Thought of the Day]

How the mighty have fallen!.....

[STARBUCKS GOSSIP WEBMASTER]

Just Say Yes doesn't mean you rubber-stamp approval on *everything.*

[Thought of the Day]

We need to face it Melody...... It's a fast food establishment now..... The Siren is weeping blood !!!!!!!! J:-(

[northsidechiblackapronshift]

how about some more vegetarian-friendly offerings!

[Jon]

Wow, we're rolling out a new HAM breakfast sandwich? Whats Portland, OR gonna do with their current one LOL! How about re-rolling out! This is ridiculous i realize we have to appeal to the people that are shutting their wallets more and more lately but jeez, why dont we just put the golden arches on top of our buildings!

[hearbutloud]

Starbucks has ruined its brand. Que triste.

Substitutions, size changes, product shortages. All these promise MORE FING HEADACHES for the barista. It WILL NOT make things easier for the customer. In fact, what it will do is piss off the customers who want to order "a la carte" and can't because the whole (or majority of) the menu is going to have the combos on it. What do you want to bet that they don't even put words on the menu anymore, just pictures. Then, our customers don't have to "pronounce" anything - they can just point.

I am getting really tired of the gimmicks. Can we just make coffee?

[toker]

When they wanted to get rid of the breakfast sandwich, I thought it was because they wanted to distance Sbux from McD's. Now they are taking another step towards being McD's. Weak!

[Barista Ben]

As long as no one asks me to super size their order, I'll be fine.

I have a love/hate relationship with our ovens. I wish we didn't have them - they smell, they are loud, people want EVERYTHING heated and we get no extra labor so it just makes the line longer.

But I love having all of my food I eat at work warmed. Everything tastes better to me because it is heated up.

I guess I just wish the oven was in the back in a room that doesn't filter to our main lobby and we had some trained monkey who just stayed there all day.

[Latteguzler]

Do you want fries with that?????

[BusyBean]

@ Barista Ben:

Sometimes I think that we have monkeys running corporate at the highest level, hence the constant frantic, illogical, and more and more company-deteriorating decisions coming down.

[Pouty Barista]

When are they going to announce the fryolator installations?

No room? No problem! Just take out the Clovers!

[shiftyshift85]

anyone hear about the new secret promo that is so secret papers are shredded before they leave the meeting room? It's code named "Space Needle." Big meeting at the SSC the 17th for managers to get training and find out more about it with special guests being there....

[Anon]

So much negativity. Give it a chance, bash afterwards.

What about talking about this hidden gem

"Additionally, as part of the Starbucks™ Shared Planet™ commitment to ethical sourcing, starting this spring, all of Starbucks espresso-based drinks in all Starbucks stores in the U.S. will be made with 100% responsibly grown, ethically traded Starbucks Espresso Roast coffee."

Im VERY excited about that

[shiftyshift85]

nothing has come out in regards to spring promo yet because of some secret project called "Space Needle." Remember when the iTunes partnership came out is was named after a Japanese city?

[beantheredonethat]

space needle has been discussed for more than a year now at the ssc. i highly doubt meeting materials would be shredded. will be waiting for that bombshell to hit the market.

[Torontodude]

The press release is silent on a key issue:

Can the pairings be combined with the existing card benefits?

Let's say I buy a tall brewed coffee and a breakfast sandwich for $3.95 and pay with my Starbucks card. Can I then get a free refill?

As a customer, I take the tax accountant view of such
matters: "If it's not prohibited, it's permitted." But am I correct? Should I be?

If the answer is "yes", I still see problems. I might have to stand it line several times to get the amount of coffee I want. All of which slows down service. I do agree that the pairings will likely result in confusion and friction -- at least initially.

All that said, I think it's a good idea. This is very good value.

Let's face facts, folks. Starbucks will never again be what it was. It is re-positioning as a slightly more upscale version of McDonalds. Some may consider this soul-destroying.

And they may be right. But it's also a smart business decision. After all, Starbucks is a public company with a responsibility to shareholders

Things might have been different had Starbucks remained private. But once the decision was made to go public, choices like the "pairing" option become inevitable in a downturn. Touchy-feely talk about how special a company is fine and helps inspire staff....in the good times. But in a public company, all bets are off when a recession hits. Which is what just happened.

I do agree that Starbucks management has made some bad decisions in the last few years...especially about expansion.
But the bad decisions pale it comparison to the two key facts:
- Starbucks is a public company
- We're in a recession

Like it or not, dems is da facts.

[SBUX Alum Bill]

It's hard for me to fault SBUX management on this decision (as much as I would like to). The carefully crafted premium image that SBUX cultivated over the last two decades carried the company to great heights, but it hurts when customers are looking for value. Can they win both sides of the value versus quality debate? Time will tell.

[Not so bitter bean]

Damned if you do and damned if you dont!

For the people that are complaining now, shut up, you are unbelievable. You complain because we are expensive, you complain when we give great deals, now lets see what we have dine thus far yet, you still complain. Registered cards get free syrups and other add ons, gold card discount, we did "not" raise prices even though we have taken hits in all of our deliveries, milk and other products alike. Now, don't get me wrong, I am a store manager and yes I have felt the disconnect from time to time and yes we are struggling a bit yet we are still here and we are building this company for the future. Time will tell and I feel that it is all going to work out at the end. We are still a strong company and we still make money unlike other companies that are losing money and going bankrupt. In the end we are still going to be standing and standing strong I might add. For the partners that are complaining, do something about it and do your job or find another, for the customers that do not like us go elsewhere so you can have a fullfilling day instead of starting off with a so called bad day. Sorry about this being so long, but I am just ashamed of some of the partners that work for us and some of the complainers from elsewhere. Have a great day!

[SoyMMM]

So...I am in one of the few stores who still don't have an oven (thank god)...what's gonna happen with our
"breakfast pairings"?

As if explaining that we don't carry the breakfast sandwiches, no we can't warm that coffee cake, no we can't toast the bagel either, no we can't "zap" it for you...wasn't already annoying enough.

[Herman Melville]

Laughable, because now that it is in the press I will spend the next three months telling customers that we dont have sandwiches because we are a remote market in a building that wont house an oven. This sucks and frankly I hope ruins us more than anything

[Anon's Anon]

I've also heard some hints at another big "secret" promo coming in the next couple of weeks. Also some other big moves as far as positions at the store level...

And we're still waiting for the other shoe to drop as far as the lay offs announced recently.

This board is gonna be busy!

Jim Donald is sitting in his corner office somewhere, laughing all the way to the bank.

[gh]

this not going to work!
just lower prices altogether!

[Karl Kenya]

Lowering prices means smaller margins. For a public company that is a big no-no. These value meals are a compromise on that problem.

This idea demonstrates the vacuum of creativity within the leadership of this company. Sure, it may work, it may not. But innovative it most certainly isn't.

I still think much of this can be resolved by closing more stores and laying off more people. I know it's a heartless and cruel statement to make, but Starbucks is just way too big for the type of company it wants to be: quality-conscious, customer-centric, serving experiences before products.

On the other hand, if Starbucks wants to preserve its market share and continue to grow, then decisions like the one today are only the beginning.

[BaristaNY]

What kind of position changes at the store level should we be expecting? It's time for someone at the SSC to tell us what's going on, and stop hinting at stuff.

[Court]

...and when are the slides and ball pits scheduled to be installed?

..."NEW" ham? I remember saying, "We discontinued the am sandwich", now it's back?

...I hope there will just be buttons for all these combos and not discount codes and test buttons like we have for the frappuchinos.

...I understand the recession, but offering value meals is not making it any better. The best idea they could come up with eh?

[StLouieDrip]

I haven't been here in a while, and checking in now just shows things are not better, and probably worse.

And I'm a customer who's here to complain, so brace yourself. Get this. It's NOT just the economy. Don't forget that sbux made a lot of bad business decisions, causing the stock price to slide, long before the recession hit.

Here's a tiny example of how things are in my city: A couple of weeks ago I wanted a cappuccino and had to think hard about which store was likely to make it the right way. 80-90% don't make good cappuccinos so I had to narrow it down quite a bit. I chose a good store and got a good cappuccino. But I shouldn't have to pick and choose, because they should ALL be good. Then a week later I wanted another cappuccino and that same store served up a sad disappointment. Bleh. But I really blame myself, because I should know by now that sbux is completely unreliable. My third cappuccino craving was satisfied at the local indy. The best ever. Their beans were roasted on the premises only a few days earlier, the shots were manually pulled, and their velvety microfoam puts sbux to shame.* (And would somebody please, please just thump me hard upside the head if you ever see me walking into another sbux store! ARGH!!)

Multiply my experience a few million times and that's at least a big part of the problem. There are a lot of us who have the same income as before, but we've stopped going to sbux because we don't consistently get a quality product. And unlike Melody we don't want to DEMAND and argue for a bold brew. As to Michelle Gass's comment about "the world's finest coffee" I wonder if she's enjoying her daily brew of PPR? Is Howard? Do you folks know how many customers counted PPR as the last straw and turned towards your competitors? Geez, stop blaming the recession already.

And neither will "ethical sourcing" magically produce a quality product. Ethically sourced espresso won't keep the water temp at the proper level, or keep the hoppers filled, or ensure that the shots are timed correctly, or steam the milk into exquisite microfoam, and it also won't give the baristas the training, skill and knowledge that they don't possess. And continuing to spout that nonsense about "the world's finest coffee" while marching headlong into mediocrity is just getting insulting.

I also don't have or want any of your special "cards" because your product is so inferior. Those cards came out at the same time that the bold brew became scarce, and when PPR was made the flagship brew. So why would I get a card that locks me into buying something that I don't really want. And I'm sorry, but using a gold card won't make the bitter espresso taste sweet either.

To all of you who pour your hearts into your jobs, working hard to do a good job in a difficult situation, please know this rant isn't about you. In fact, you are why I hung in there and didn't give up sooner. You are also why I still pine longingly while reminiscing about previously good cuppas at your stores. And you are why my car seems confused when I drive past instead of turning into the parking lot. (yes, I swear my car has its own mind and is really that confused. LOL) And all of you hard workers all have my deepest appreciation, respect, and sincerest sympathy.

SoyMMM, I haven't seen a single oven anywhere in STL, so it's more than just a "few stores." Not being able to "zap" a pastry is why I rarely ever bought one.

* psst, it's Shaw's Coffee, Ltd., just in case anybody's interested. ;-)

[g]

StLouieDrip:
I always thought that if customers complained, corporate would have to listen and start making changes. Obviously, I was dead wrong.

[coffeeguy]

StLouieDrip, as a store manager, I fully hear your dismay and appologize. I don't undertand how partners can still not properly steam milk. I have seen other store managers not properly steam the milk. I see soap bubbles and hear screaming milk in stores, even my own at times (and if you want to find a way to make me loose composure, that is it.)

Milk steaming 101
1. The steam wand should be angled towards you (never pushed all the way back.)
2. Sumberge it slightly, press steam.
3. The milk will go into a whirlpool, slowly lower the pitcher so that the milk makes slight tearing sounds, like paper tearing.
4. Aerate between 65-80 degrees (this is about 10-15 seconds of your life.)
5. Set pitcher on ledge. Do not push the steam wand back. Do no cry if it overflows a little (you over filled or over aerated if it did this, this is what towels are for.)
6. When it auto stops, pulse it to 165-170 so the milk is hot yet not scorched and reeking of burnt popped corn.

If you are making a cap, pull your shots when the milk hits about 110 degrees. Your timing will be perfect. Ensure you get the shots in teh cup quickly, swirl, and free pour. ooooh lah lah. The espresso rises up into elegant silk smooth foam.

DO NOT wait till the milk is done steaming and then pour it. It will be wrong.

LAstly, ignore the espresso excellence video that was shipped out and the barista steaming in the video did not actually steam the milk following the written instructions. (Good job training department! If I let my barsitas steam the milk that way, it would be awful.)

I'm not trying to be condescending. Please follow that. You will be amazed! If you ever hear the milk steaming you didn't do it right. And hey, you can choose not to do the job.... and then more customers will go to indies where they do this and get a better beverage. Shame on any barista who hands off anything less than perfect because you know its wrong when you do it.

StLouieDrip... I'll make you a cap any day.

[IC Lover]

Why, if you know that consumers believe the "myth" of the $4 latte--in other words have "$4" and "Sbux" in their brains--would you charge essentially $4 for a promotion?

Why not make it $3.50? And yes, I can just hear those requests now for swapping pastries, etc. We already get that with the free tall coffee with the pound purchase.

[cactusmush]

I can vouch about the lengthy and rather technical ingredients lists of some of the baked goods. In the line-up one morning I got to glance at the ingredients list of the new cupcakes Sbux is selling in Toronto – the ones with the florescent icing. It was about a 6 line paragraph of chemical ingredients. It was like trying to read a 300 word psalm in Latin.

Pair that with Pikes Place Blend and pretend you are an Epicurean….

[F Starbucks I'm done!]

This is going to be a just Say Yes disaster. can I have an apple fritter instead of a coffee cake? Can I get a mocha instead of a latte? I can't wait to be a total bitch and say NO!!!!!! At the same time giving whole milk to the anorexic chic i wait on each and every day, and asking the teeth suckers if they would like a toothpick!

[Hank]

People complain that customers don't buy Vivannos. I for one love the Vivanno and like that it's a great pre- or post- workout protein boost and it tastes great. The problem is that half the time I try to order one at a Starbucks, they tell me that they're out of bananas, regardless of the time of day. If Starbucks is not committed to the drink, the should take it off the menu. But why keep it on the menu but then make it impossible to order, pissing customers off?

[Mysticboi]

For those people that claim sbux baristas don't know how to steam milk...i agree half way. There are alot of baristas that do, but since sbux put so much emphesis on speed plus understaffing most stores...we just don't have that kinda time to do it. All it takes is 5 extra seconds per pitcher. But 5 extra seconds can throw off alot of timing on how you flow from one drink to the next. It's not something a sbux in a commercialized are can do. People are constantly in a rush to go somewhere. Its fine if you're in a residential area....but still.

[Kenya?Yukon!]

So I think I finally learned how the "just say yes" policy works on things that we're indirectly supposed to say no to (such as these no substitutions). You tell the customers no, and keep politely saying no unless one of two things happen: they're about to walk out with out buying anything or they threaten to call your RDO. That's when you magically say: "Oh so you want to substitute the blueberry coffee cake for a Sirena machine? My bad. I misunderstood you! Of course we can! That will be 3.95... and with your Gold Card discount..."
Seriously, every time I've seen a store manager or a shift supervisor get in trouble for not saying yes to something we're told to not to say yes to, it was under one of those conditions.
Anyone else seen this happen?

[Selina]

Ha! What? Shultz is kissin up to Ronald Mcd? This is really the end. I cant wait to see the new red and yellow logo.
This is worst move ever by a CEO. I am embarassed to be seen at the Starbucks.

[whatwhat]

This is sort of in response to StLouieDrip's comment...

Does anyone remember the answer for WHY we can't use the spoons for cappucinos anymore. (I get yelled at when I do) I just find that with free pouring it is NEVER going to be the same everytime and its supposed to be the same all the time isn't it???? At least with the spoon I can make the milk/foam ratio right every single time.

[CAT]

Wow! People are so passionate about this! I would hope sbUX management would read this website, because then they could get some unsolicited, yet REAL feelings about the goings on of the company. It's obvious to me, that top management are in a "yes" mode, to the top, and don't have better ideas, but if HS had a core group of employees (and non-employees) that would tell him straight about the operations and ideas that have happened, and plan to happen, it would be like a reality check for the company.
I work for the FAA, and everytime some new boss steps in, they want to put their "mark" on things, and makes change for no good reason,, "let's do it THIS WAY now",,, and everybody is like WTF, it goes on ALL OVER ,,, bad management that does not help the org.
Good luck!

[espressokeepsyouyoung]

The ''value meal'' idea is terrible. our customers do not come to us for ''value''. remember business 101? you can sell high quality, or savings/value...but never both. Our customers will want a different custom drink and a different pastry and we will "say yes" and loose money anyway.

so here is my response to everyone saying "if you dont like your job, quit...if you dont like starbucks don't go"..etc.

the only reason most people vent here is because we LOVED starbucks and LOVED our jobs.

And yes, the economy is bad, so is that really why starbucks is struggling with it's brand? I have a few ideas otherwise and here they are:

Leadership Conference = a $30million+ vacation that used 400,000 non cvg hours, and yes it was cool but was it productive?

since Howard returned as CEO, we, as a company have done exactly the opposite of everything he has said we will do. for example:

1. "we will make the blended category simpler." (then we sell the mint choc chip frappuccino with 3 inclusions, chocolate whip cream, and driz...and Vivannos, that take exactly 4 times longer to make than any other blended bev.)

2. "we will discontinue warming." (now we are putting ovens in nearly every store, even stores not designed for it).

3. "We don't pull espresso shots into paper cups." at the cost of closing 100% of our stores for 4 hours to prove it. (5 months later...oh, actually we can pull shots into paper cups, because we are taking back the whopping FIFTEEN SECONDS of labor we gave you for that.)

4. "we are going back to our roots as a coffee house with heart and soul." ( by taking an average of 25 hours per week of labor out of each store so you can run at -3% VTI, so now the store is so understaffed that customers in line wait longer to watch 3 frustrated partners try to do the job of 4 or 5, replacing the cheerful "Hi There!", with the new "I'll be right there in just a minute.")

5. "we are going back to our roots; part two." (by changing a perfectly succinct and sound mission statement into a droning essay that is much more tedious melodramtic prose than a prescriptive decision making foundation.

[just for fun, try to read through the entire new mission statement while working a coverage shift in your store without something beeping before you finish it.]

6. "we will make the operations processes simpler so you can focus on creating the experience." (by changing the seattle/paper/pastry orders into a DPI nightmare where the ENTIRE process is changed so often, that no one even bothers trying to understand it anymore, and we all just cross our fingers and press "save" and hope we get what we need.

7. "We will not degrade the brand with 'combo meals'. (Spring phase one, value pairings.)

My point is this. our profit is down 96% over the same qtr last year, but "profit" is revenue minus expenses. Maybe, just maybe, the expenses of drasticly changing things that work into disasters of complicated nonsense coupled with the expenses of "retraining for espresso excellence" then totally undoing it a few months later, plus a 30something million dollar conference, and a more complex/less coffee-focused menu of every abomination in the fast food fringe market (smoothies, tea lattes, signature hot chocolate/salted carmel hot chocolate/the old regular hot chocolate/ and the so eloquently named 'iced hot chocolate', the cost of re-writing and re-publishing a long-winded mission statement to replace one that business scholars had applauded for its potency, and then spending $50M on a new jet only to sell it a month later for PR reasons so we can put it up for sale in "Jet Trader" magazine and take a $10M loss on the thing.

Add all that up and scrape it off our expenses line and see if we earn back our showtime R2 partner and our demoted asm's and our non coverage days to actually "manage" our stores, and a respectable salary for our CEO which he fully deserves if any CEO does.

(I feel better now..*smiles*.."Hi There!")