OPEN THREAD conversation-starter: Does VIA in supermarkets mean less pressure to peddle it in Starbucks stores?

The Wall Streeet Journal is reporting that "Starbucks is rolling out Via instant coffee to tens of thousands of supermarkets, mass merchandisers and other outlets in coming weeks." Your thoughts? Discuss this or anything else Starbucks-related in the OPEN THREAD. || Jump to the second page of comments.

Comments

[peaches]

To the person with the question about reusing cups:

USE LOGIC.

Do you really think Starbucks would have you use two cups per frappuccino? You know the answer without having to ask the question, you just have to take some "damn" initiative and do what you can obviously see is right.

and if that doesn't work for you, read the recipe!

[Melody]

@a non e-moose - There's nothing weird at all about people complaining right now. People get used to a certain flavor. There is a new Frappuccino - and the light version is drastically different flavor now that it is made with Stevia (so I hear, I never drink light Frappuccinos). Taste is subjective. It's silly to have these arguments over it being 'better' or not because it's pretty subjective. I like Darth Sidamo's comments on why people like it less! Makes sense to me! Heck, I like a breve Frappuccino now!

Also, if you think about the MILLIONS of Frappuccinos being sold every week, and that statistically people will not actually complain in the store, what we're experiencing is very real.

Will Starbucks ever go back? I doubt it, but it doesn't mean that baristas or anyone should be dismissive of unconcerned with the complaints (not really directed at you, but this is happening all over the blogosphere).

Just my theory: I think that Starbucks expect Frappuccino sales to look a little bit like a Nike swoosh symbol. There will be this whole bell curve of people trying the new drink (new people trying it out because it's new) but at the same time customers leaving over it. Yes, they'll lose customers, and perhaps even a large 6 to 7 digit number. The bottom of the swoosh will be propped up by heavy promotion, advertising, and Frappuccino happy hour - inflating and propping up the bottom of the swoosh. But then sales will just continue to go up and up and new customers come into the drink who like this ability to customize it. At least, I think that is what Starbucks expects.

Maybe we'll get lucky and every store will focus on coffee soon! ;) If only we could have another 8 weeks of bold!

[Coffee Soldier]

The coffee focus is back (or suposed to be) the promo starting tomorrow has another barista tracking sheet (just like the one from the 8 week promo) to be sure everyone in your store is tasting and describing the coffee of the week. We tried the 3 Region Blend last week so all my partners could be able to descirbe it when it begins brewing. I loved it! Really good iced too! You could just pick out the subtle citrus/lemon floral notes that the African area is bringing in but subtle enough not to over power the rest of the cup. I liked how the body was light and sort of danced around in my mouth then the heavier weight of many Asia/pacific coffees....nice job Starbucks! It will be my markout for the next few week!

[Darth Sidamo]

@peaches. Your logic is wonderful. Especially since we throw away cups for refills and get them a new one (health code) as well as build in a cup and then throw it away when they bring in their own cup to put a frappuccino in (Starbucks Policy).

While you may think this person is not using logic notice how I pointed out that you may not be using logic either. People have questions and even if they seem simple to you, every question must be answered. There is a good chance that if small questions and minor details get ignored you could have misinterpretations such as how much can you abuse just say yes and how to correctly charge for syrups/extras.

[Rachel]

I have a quick question about Starbucks protocol I would appreciate if someone who works there could answer.
Are you supposed to double cup + sleeve a Venti plain hot tea? When I worked at a (licensed) store a few months ago, we did, but the store I go to is inconsistent with it. Just wondering, thanks!.

[spence]

We no longer double cup any drink (not even the Americano) unless a customer requests it. We do use a sleeve.
EXCEPTION: We double cup HOT drinks made in short cups because the sleeves do not fit. Kid drinks are 130 degrees which is tepid not hot so we do not double cup kid drinks.

[SBUX Customer]

A Starbucks just opened today at my university. It is a licensed store. Anyone know why a Starbucks gold card (gold colored card) is not accepted as payment but a regular Starbucks card is accepted?

[Rachel]

Thanks spence! I got some pretty serious burns today from a venti tea (they filled it way too high and didn't double cup it or properly put the sleeve on) so I wanted to know if I have reason to be completely pissed off. I still am a little.

[bostonbarista]

any comments on the Boston area water problems? we are just serving green tea lattes without ice and via.

[AlexG]

So, is it now Starbucks policy to use a new cup for refills? This happened to me twice last week and I thought it was just the barista being strange. What a waste, especially when he double cupped my refill, thus using three cups for what should be a one-cup transaction.

[Mrs. Tillinghamshackles]

AlexG, yes, it is policy in certain areas, but it was not the choice of Starbucks. In King County, WA, at least, it is required per health code.

[javagirl666]

Hey, Alex..why don't you bring in your own cup and you won't have to worry about it as it is now policy across the country to give you a new cup.

[SBUX Customer]

If it is a health department code, I don't get the logic of having to give customers a new cup for refills. Doesn't make sense when you are allowed to bring a cup from home and get it filled. Who knows how clean or dirty those personal cups are.

[javagirl666]

Its the same thing as when you are having salad bar at a restaurant..they always make you take a clean plate. I don't understand the logic either, but that's why.

[Darth Discontinued.]

Did I see that right or did they discontinue Ethiopia Sidamo? I know that getting back to basics means you slaughter whats left of your coffee house soul but to get rid of the birthplace of coffee as well?

[Melody]

@DarthDiscontinued - I think that Starbucks has some struggle or opportunity in trying to figure out how to source single origin beans for the thousands and thousands of stores! Blends are easier to do. All (or most)of the discontinued coffees have been single origin: 2008 it was Sanani, in 2009 it was Sulawesi, and now in 2010 it's Sidamo.

The funny thing is that there is still great single origin beans in some of the smaller markets - The UK gets Sanani for example. I almost think that they need to take the bulk of the north American stores and divide them up. Since having a large millions and millions pound supply of arabica single origin coffee is a challenge... Make it so the south gets Sulawesi, and the North West gets Sanani, and the North East gets Sidamo ...(totally making this example idea up! Have no idea if it would work!)

It's just an idea! Yes it's heartbreaking to see great coffee get kicked off the coffee menu. Once upon a time there was an amazing whole bean menu up on the wall behind the registers!

[lovethenewfrapps]

@Rachel-A sleeve is the standard.

[Joe]

There's a supply shortage (not unique to Starbucks) of Sidamo.

[please do not post the obvious]

If the next thread on this site is about the person who is suing Starbucks because they spilled hot tea water on themselves I'm going to drink the koolaid...

[usorthem3]

@javagirl666 With any possible cross contamination issue at a salad bar, it has to do with the serving utensil touching the plate that has been eaten off of already.

@Melody I read that some corporate stores will also be selling pre-ground coffee. Whole beans will more than likely be gone from the stores in the next few years, I say 2015. BTW, get a passport. LOL

[Darth Discontinued.]

usorthem is right. atleast thats what it said in our promo binder.
I hope Sidamo does not go away. There are so many bad coffees that we have (Ive met two people in four years that really really like Estima). All of our Conservation International coffees could kick the bucket and not too many people I think would notice.

[livin' la VIA loca]

Just in Time for Summer – Starbucks VIA® Iced Coffee

Starbucks continues to create new ways and opportunities to enjoy quality Starbucks® coffee by adding Starbucks VIA® Iced Coffee to the Starbucks VIA® Ready Brew portfolio. With the same great flavor you would expect from Starbucks® brewed coffee, Starbucks VIA® Iced Coffee is a special blend of medium roast coffee made from 100% high-quality arabica beans. Lightly sweetened to create a perfect balance of coffee and pure cane sugar, Starbucks VIA® Iced Coffee is 100% natural roasted, with only 50 calories per 8 fl. oz. serving. Starbucks VIA® Iced Coffee will be available in late June in all U.S. and Canada company-operated and licensed stores, as well to U.S. customers online at StarbucksVIA.com.

http://starbucks.tekgroup.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=383

[lovethenewfrapps]

@Darth Estima is a hugely popular coffee- how many coffee conversations do you have with those buying beans and ordering drip? It's a huge seller!

[spence]

We stopped taking back cups for refills when swine flu was at its worst. Corporate was trying to reduce partner contact with saliva from strangers.

[Javerich]

I'm shocked to see that a tall Coffee Frappuccino has grown to 35 grams of sugar!! now, I understand part of the point is I can ask for it to be less sweet.

Can anyone tell me how many grams are in each pump?

And what exactly do I ask them to reduce? I believe there's a coffee sauce/base and an additional sweetener pumped in?

Lastly, can anyone tell me more about the ingredients in the Light Frappuccinos? Thrilled to see Stevia advertised but I suspect it's not the whole picture...

Curious overanalytical devoted consumer would greatly appreciate your answers :)

[lovethenewfrapps]

no, the first is the coffee taste, the second holds it together. you really can't adjust the second (even though I've seen comments of those who do, it makes for chunky and nasty frapps). You want less of the first

[lovethenewfrapps]

btw, if you got the nutrition info (which is NOT online yet) you must have been in a store...why not talk while there...

[dcstateofmind]

Uh - when are we all going to admit that a coffee shop that uses instant anything to make it's drinks is practically a 7/11?

[umnotsomuch]

burnt out eh? Maybe it's time for you to find a new job. 7-11 don't use instant. They use liquid crap.

[Sid]

Has Ethiopia Sidamo really been discontinued?!

[Ste-via]

Has anyone actually read the ingredients on the new Frapuccino Light? Stevia isn't on there at all, just Erythritol. Both are sugar alcohols, but Stevia comes from a specific genus of plant. Erythritol comes from processing and fermenting various fruits and whatnot.

[Javerich]

Lovethenewfrapps - I got the nutrition info from frappuccino.com last night. Thanks for the info.

[Javerich]

Wait, this appears in today's press release: "doubling the Starbucks® Frappuccino® roast coffee and skipping the syrup will intensify the taste, without increasing the sugar."

lovethenewfrapps said it's the coffee mixture that is sweet but this seems to contradict that. Anyone? Just trying to nurture my OCD as well as my diet ;)

[happilymovedon]

@Melody
Melody your last blog post on your site summed up the "transformation" of this company and it all began with Howard Behar leaving. Just look at what you wrote, Behar takes the time to load Winter's sbux card and Schultz doesn't even have the decency to look up and acknowledge your presence or any other customer for that matter. Let's see which one is leading by example? or Being a Servant Leader?
How can you be in awe of his behavior? You deserve more, you deserve at least a head nod! What happens when a barista does this? Double standard? Oh that's right he is worth 43 mil and a barista only 5k.

[justthefacts]

The roast is the first step-the roast is the COFFEE. That is what they said. The syrup would be the caramel, mocha and so forth. The BASE is what holds it together.

[Darth Discontinued.]

Ive always offered a french press and to sample a coffee before somebody buys something new. Estima is just very unspectacular. The weeks Estima is our bold, most people that usually get bold prefer Pike.

The fact it has never made six for the season or that it is marketed by the fact that its fair trade (which most of our coffee already is) instead of by taste shows how unspectacular it really is.

As far as Sidamo read about the government and coffee in the past year. It seems this conflict in Ethiopia with coffee corporations may explain it all.

[justthefacts]

@Darth, that is your personal opinion. And, I'm sure that comes through to your customers. You should always be positive remembering that coffee taste is , well a matter of taste.
Estima is a huge seller in general. You don't like it. Fine. That does not make it inferior or a bad coffee.
We sell a lot of estima in our cafe when it's drip. People love it. You need to separate taste and fact here buddy.

[Longo]

Does anybody know how to avoid wasting a cup when a customer orders a tall in a grande or grande in a venti Frappucino? We were told to throw the "measuring" cup away, but I hate to do that.

We have found that folks who like the green tea frappucino prefer an extra scoop or two of matcha in the new version. Without the extra, it doesn't have much flavor. Has anybody else tried this?

[justthefacts]

@Longo just the opposite. The matcha really, really stands out now. If you only liked it in the frap, you won't like it. If you love green tea, you will love it.

[wtf]

whats the deal with the decaf iced coffee button? anybody have any information??

[Christinschu]

WTF: we will officially be offering decaf iced coffee. we are even getting Decaf Terazza

[Christinschu]

Longo: Why would some one order a tall frappuccino in a grande cup? I have never had that happen.

[shift misto]

Christenshu: we used to have iced dcf coffee. no one ordered it so it went away with the dcf light frap base. of course i thinkkkk we brewed it from.. wow its been a while - were talking BP years (before pike) but it was double strength something!
people order the bigger cups for extra whip.

@Justthefacts /Darth
(first, darth - happy may4, and May the Fourth Be With You!) we don't sell much estima here. sometimes we brew the 1lb bags to keep it from expiring. i don't think its a bad coffee, its just very lack luster so its no ones fav.
but.... darth how can u hate all CI coffees?? have you never indulged in the magic that is Mex Shade Grown over ice? ahhhhh summer afternoon in a little cup o' heaven.

[Cafe Nervosa]

Re: Estima... It tastes like bold House Blend. It's not a BAD coffee, but there's nothing very GOOD about it. In positive language, it's smooth, balanced, and drinkable. In negative language, it's boring, plain and simple. We sell a lot because people like the fair trade bit. If it wasn't fair trade, it wouldn't be worth carrying.

[floater]

The Cafe Estima is superior to the coffee we used to offer it replaced which was just called "Fair Trade" several years ago. Even so it is not a customer favorite in my store when it is the morning pick. Several of my bold customers ask for Americanos instead because they hate the Pike Place alternative.

[Darth Discontinued.]

OSM. It is a coffee Ive found to be very inconsistant over the years. However I will say one of the better pairings is when OSM is paired with dried nuts and fruit. Especially if you add dried mango.

As far as the Estima thing the numbers, not just taste, show that even with mass marketing about how buying it helps people, it still is not one of the better selling coffees in starbucks whole bean lineup.

[Darth Discontinued.]

http://www.starbucks.com/blog/12816/my-favorite-bold-coffee-6-caf-estima-blend-

If you read the others, especially Sumatra they talk exclusively about the flavors and the excitement that the coffee brought to them. When talking up Estima all they can muster up is how colorful the bag is (If you are Vera Bradley I guess this is helpful) and how it is fair trade. Just a small mention about how it actually tastes to them.

[Melody]

@Darth Discontinued the artist formerly known as Darth Sidamo - I not the hugest fan of OSM. It's totally drinkable, and fine now and then, but just not a fave of mine. I think that side by side Pike Place Roast and OSM have a lot of similar flavors. I've always assumed that they used a lot of Mexico beans in PPR. I don't think they've ever told us _exactly_ where PPR gets primarily sourced from. Mexico? Peru? Brazil? ... But OSM can be paired with some surprising things. I went to a coffee tasting a couple of months ago where a barista paired OSM with aged gouda. It worked surprisingly well. I didn't realize that aged gouda cheese naturally has some nutty notes to it that play off of OSM.

Thanks for the off topic discussion of OSM!

[dcstateofmind]

@umnotsomuch

LMAO - seriously? Look, you can waste everyone's time arguing that SBUX isn't using instant coffee in their drinks but then you would be factually incorrect, wouldn't you?

You don't have to like it, but it's true all the same.

[realcoffee]

it's still real coffee. It's made with beans not chemicals=real coffee