Claim: Starbucks' bottom-line hurt by long lines in the morning

Starbucks says there's an unprecedented demand for blended beverages in the morning, and that's a problem. "We believe we are losing some espresso business due to longer than normal wait times in both cafes and drive-throughs during peak morning hours," CEO Jim Donald said during an analyst conference call (read the transcript). The lines could be holding back Starbucks' sales of blended beverages as well, he said. (Seattle Times)
> Fortune columnist: Essentially this company was turning [customers] away! Sure this means the company has staffing issues, which are difficult to manage because the way traffic at its stores ebbs and flows. They have to address this, and they have to try to get customers coming in all day long, but SUCH a problem, right?

Comments

[pnwgal]

This is probably going to sound simplistic but...usually at my Starbucks, there's two registers going. Why not make one an "express" line for things like regular espresso drinks and drips? I'd also limit drive-thru drinks like the bank limits the types of transactions you can do through the drive-thru.

[JinSanFran]

I second PNWGAL. An express line would be a great idea (and my order would not put me in the express line).

[Jon]

Not bad. But at my store, it's pretty much consistently frappuccinos and white mochas throughout the morning rush. Diverting the drip coffee orders would only address a small minority of orders. Plus, it's a drive thru, and most of the morning rush goes through there. I'm interested to know how other stores handle this.

[SFBarista]

The problem is that blender drinks take longer to make than espresso drinks, and unlike espresso drinks, there's very little you can do to speed the process up. Plus every time you turn around there's yet another new blended drink coming out and another promotion campaign to try to push more of them out the door.

Can't we just go back to being a coffee company? Howard should buy Jamba Juice if he wants to run a frozen drink company.

[Becca]

How would an express till speed things up? It takes just as long to pay for a drip or an espresso as it does to pay for a frap. The solution you really want would be one barista specifically on fraps, and one or two just on espresso drinks. That's pretty much what we do. We almost always have a trainee of some sort on staff, and during rushes, they exclusively make fraps. This means that the fully functioning baristas don't have to alternate between hot/cold and fraps, and the frap people even get their drinks faster than they normally would.

[Drinker]

Was Starbucks bottom line hurt by long lines, or by management incompetence?

I've never worked a single hour at Starbucks, and yet even I can tell, from the other side of the counter, that blended drinks take significantly longer to make.

Anyone vaguely familiar with the planet Earth knows it gets hot in the summer and can thus infer the icy drinks will become more popular.

I'm no rocket scientist, but the fix seems simple, and it has nothing to do with new blending technology or training. How about just hiring more people?

I guess that's a dillema. Hmmm, how to hire more people. Too bad there's no large class of people who have extra spare time on their hands during the summer and are willing to work for entry-level wages. And too bad Starbucks is so short on operating funds.

[Becca]

Drinker, managers are under extreme pressure to keep labour at a minimum. Hiring nore employees just so you wait 15 fewer seconds in line during a rush isn't an option, because when that rush is over, you have one more person just standing around and getting payed for it.

[Deusx]

Not to mention, having three extra people working at a 2 blender station isn't going to speed up how fast a drink is made.
Frankly the problem isn't the workers or staffing, etc. It's consumers having unresonable expectations for how long they will wait for a custom made drink. They are so spoiled by the speed places like McDonalds has as they pull a pre made sandwhich and pre cooked french fries off a shelf and throw them in a bag.
Really, if a minute more or less makes or breaks you on the way to work, you shouldn't be stopping for a drink anyways.

[sbuxmanager]

Drinker,
Putting more people on the floor isn't always the right solution. If you only have room for 2 or 3 blenders then adding more people only results in more bumping into one another, dropping drinks, etc. Better deployment and systems from the top down is a way better solution. It drives me nuts when I see a barista standing at the espresso bar with no drinks while his or her counterpart is slaving away on Cold Beverage Station. The espresso barista should help the Cold Bevs until more espresso drinks are called. Or the floater should do just what the title says and float, not just call drinks over.
And yes, we are under a lot of pressure to use as little labor as possible, but we are also under pressure to have what's now called "service with speed." The thing about labor though, is that if you sell more, you can have more labor. The problem is that stores get what I call topped out on labor, meaning, you can't fit any more people on the floor and adding someone else won't make a difference. The funny thing is, store partners have been telling upper management for years that blended slows speed of service but no one upstairs seemed to want to hear it. Maybe they'll listen now.

One more thing...express lines don't work (I know from experience). With our "just say yes" policy, jerk-offs go to the drip express line, order 6 mocha fraps and you have to say yes. Once a lady did that to me and I told her she was on the wrong line. She told me no way was she waiting on that f--king line and ring her up right now. The other part of that is the company wants all products at all channels at all times...it's the reason we still had to make chantico last august or still carrry apple cider now.

[Lauren]

Deusx I agree and disagree and well...we'll just put it in words.

I think the tight regulations they have on labor (over, under, QTD hours, etc) are hurting some of us. My manager (in fear of them and our DM) schedules thin a lot of the time. We do plenty that isn't the most efficient use of our money but what if we overscheduled by one person?

Deep cleaning tasks anyone? Coming in and being handed a shift where everything is under control?

The last store I worked in was always a *little* overstaffed (I didn't know much about labor then but I knew we were a little over) and it was AMAZING. We were more willing to help customers, more willing to go that extra mile, and were just WAY better at our jobs.

At the same time three people on a 2 blender CBS is ridiculous (lest we start building in cup again, I do miss those days). It's hard I guess...

But I could always do with an extra person on my shift.

[cornfrost]

Speaking of long lines....

http://gawker.com/news/starbucks/

Today there was iced-coffee giveaway in NYC. Terrible timing -- during the heat wave. Apparently every store was a zoo. Thank goodness I wasn't working.

[416barista]

You want hot drinks, no problem...but with only 2 blenders and usually just one person working our cold bev station, I think we do a damn fine job.

We are a busy store, so sometimes it might take a few minutes to make the 10 fraps we have lined up, but if you really wanted something faster you could always go to Tim's or Second cup (Canadian coffee chains) and get a pre-made cold drink that comes out a ice-cream machine!!

[coffeeguy :)]

ultiamtly with a two blender setup and no drive thru 4 people work the best.

One on hot drinks one on till one floater and one cold berage person.

the floater does a bus every 10 minutes and if they two on cold and hot drinks are any good they can easily keep the line moving pretty effeciently.

I've never seen a need for more then 4 staff on at a time at a smaller corporate store.

[Boston Starbucks Rebel]

The deployment chart for the CBS states that it is possible to have two people working that station. Basically, one person builds and blends, while these second person finishes off the drink and hands offs. I always make sure that the CBS has two or three partners, with one doing exclusively iced coffee and iced teas during peak periods. And yes, there are two partners on bar also, therefore bringing the number to 5 partners in the espresso and CBS work area. Also, it is important for the expediter to call down the line during peak hours, because 1) we can get customers' drink orders faster and 2) customers have to stay in line to pay usually and then receive their beverage. It is all a matter of correct depployment.

[coffeeguy :)]

deffinatly deployment helps a lot.

Maybe the company needs to do a few pushes in the deployment area to help get those drinks out a lot faster.

A lot of people said that too much staff can slow things down a lot becuase we are all bumping into each other.

I work at a larger area store for bar and coming off a tiny bar I can tell you that during a small rush a big bar does slow you down but during a large rush it's a godsend.

Maybe starbucks should consider expanding the bar and drink perperation areas in larger stores so employees can more easily move around the drink preperation area. That would deffinatly reduce spills and speed up movement and access to things like whip and lemonade by having more fridge space.

[Lauren]

Out of curiosity -- I'm a huge pusher of deployment (as is my entire store) since we're the busiest in the district and our DM has made a more recent push to bring deployment back.

Do other stores have mandatory deployment? How many baristas are trained on a 2-on, 3-on, 4-on, and even 5-on system?

(oh and CoffeeGuy, what are your half hour counts with that 4-on setup? 'Cause some mornings I'd die without five on -- and for the record you should have two registers open BEFORE you have two bar people -- as per le deployment manual)

I think this is a really interesting website that Sbux should look into, because it really gives a great perspective from customers who like us, customers who hate us, baristas , managers, non customers, consumers. i think this is awesome to look into how we all see things, and helps us all operate and understand better.

just thinking about deployment, half-hours, labor managed to zero%, store layout, 3minute time restraints, keeping people happy, keeping a good product, keeping samples of blended out all day. so much goes into the process that people don't realize -
lots of training and planning
we are never going to hit 100% to satisfy anyone - the consumer, barista, manager...

but i like the insight i get from this site (frustarating or not at times) because it helps me think of what we can and cannot do - what is in our control and not in our control.

i think Jim D. should read here sometime and see what he can get from all of us.

and i think that our corporate people are very tuned in to what happens and why things happen. they are not so distant from us like in other companies. but i don't think they often hear frank feedback from employees like they would here. i know they get it from customers - frank as could be, but not the partners.

thank you for providing this. it is great

[claudia]

What an awful problem to have. They just need to make their stores bigger.

[Drinker]

You know what? I think you guys do a DAMN FINE job too.

But there clearly aren't enough of you guys.

I don't buy the argument about lack of blenders making it useless to hire more people. If you don't have enough blenders, buy more blenders. If there is no space for them, make more space.

To those who think customers have unrealistic expectations, or lines are moving fast enough: I'm not the one telling you don't have enough staff. No, your customers are telling you that, by leaving your lines in such numbers as to impact your performance and your official sales numbers -- by the testimony of your own executives.

And it's just the tip of the iceberg. Once things are bad enough for mass customers to abandon the lines (in your own CEO's words), those are lost customers. Many of them will not be coming back in future months. They have been trained about how long it's going to take at Starbucks. They don't *want* to be primadonnas with unrealistic expectations, which is precisely why they won't come in.

Hopefully, many _will_ come back, either during the summer or once it's over and the blended drinks become less popular. I, for one, have not reduced my Starbucks consumption.

Starbucks can spend money now on extra staff, or it can spend a lot more money later on lost sales.

[Florida Barista]

THank you DRINKER!! So true. More blenders would obviously help..and the space, yes. Which would all equal more people. I would LOVE more hours.. My manager hates it when I go into overtime even when I want to. I need the money! And they need me to work, so why not just met me? Ugh..

[SM]

I agree that people are spoiled when it comes to wait times. With all of the Fraps, iced teas and iced coffees, add in the warmed breakfast sandwiches, it's almost impossible to get people in and out in 3 minutes unless they're ordering drip coffee and a muffin.

As for the person who said "make more space" and "buy more blenders" SBUX designes the stores so small that it's impossible to make more space, I have the tiniest CBS ever, and we have to store iced coffee, black tea, green tea, passion tea, our frap dispenser (thank god for that) strawberry sauce, banana sauce, pom juice, tangerine juice, lemonade, cups, lids, tea shakers, blender pitchers and lids and all the syrups and powders. Gimme a break! We've got to lighten up on the number of frap choices! And with one, or even 2 people on the CBS, 4 blenders won't make a difference. Having enough blender pitchers is the key.

Bottom line, if people want all the choices we have to offer, they're going to have to wait a little longer for us to craft their half-caf venti extra whip with caramel sauce on top and lining the cup banana mocha coconut frappuccino.

[SM]

Oh, did I mention that there's a big square hole smack dab in the middle of my frap station for a trash can?

Make more space indeed.

[thealater]

During our down time I was in the back doing dishes when my dt person told me over my headset that I was needed at the front of the house. I was thinking it must have been bad because we had three really awesome partners on the floor. When I got up there, we had about 40 customers, no regulars, at the counter. I had a couple of choices how to respond and I chose to pick up the frappucino drinks to make because of the time involved. At the same time, I took orders over the dt. A few minutes later, my manager came up and I asked her to help me. She assisted in helping me with the frappuccinos, we worked like we were mind melded--one starting and the other finishing a pitcher. A few minutes later, I overheard someone say "She's fast."

It was over in no time.

I was headed out to do a cafe check, and all 40 customers were sitting together in the cafe. A guy said "There she is!" and complimented me on my performance. We had just served 40 managers on a tour who paid for their drinks without using their discounts. They said I was the first shift supervisor who didn't freak out when I saw them. I didn't get stressed out, I was smiling and even though I had a lot to do, I was having fun.

I'm glad that my store is full of partners who know how to have fun and get the job done at the same time. But you never know what's going to happen in a day. Even with all the equipement and all the extra partners, the best scheduling, something can still throw a curveball at you. Blenders break down, partners get sick or have family emergencies.

Frappuccinos are here to stay. I serve at least five people a day who are trying them for the first time and love them. We even had a gourmet ice cream store open a few doors down our strip mall and we still sell a lot of blended drinks.

Look, it's the deployment, stupid. If you are losing customers at the line, get their drink orders while they're waiting (remember calling down the line?) and get cranking. Know the bloody drink codes for the blended drinks and write them correctly on the cup--I don't know how many times I have been a borrowed partner in stores that don't mark their cold cups or use the wrong codes--and keep things stocked.

Most customers are aware if they are in a surge and if you make it a good experience for yourselves (happy faces everyone) and for them they will keep coming back regardless.

[Lou Sussler]

I am one of those 15 to 18 times per month customers and I have no desire to wait on the long lines during the summer, particularly as I'm only getting an iced drip and once I get to the front of the line, I have my drink in 15 to 20 seconds.

If the *$ line is too long, I go right down the block to the Dunkys which has an equally long line but which moves an average of 3 times faster.

Lastly, I don't know what the purpose of the free iced coffee giveaway was but it was really offputting for a number of reasons. Firstly, the line ran down the block so paying customers couldn't get in to order. Secondly, if the purpose was to reward regular customers, it didn't work as (IMO and trying not to be elitist) anybody who is a regular would never stand in the blazing sun for a line which extended half a block for a free $2.00 cup of coffee. I think most regular *$ customers would rather pay and get the coffee quicker. Once again, I went to the Dunkys yesterday afternoon and it's somewhat annoying as I really prefer the Bucks.

[sbuxmanager]

"Make more space." Sure that 's easy. Just requires the breaking of a couple of Newton's laws...any cops around?

Why don't we just take over the business next door. That'll make more space. Better yet, we can incorporate whatever that business is into our own. We can have coffee shop/banks, coffee shop/dry cleaner, coffee shop/coffee shop, etc. It'll be great.

[coffeeguy :)]

You know i've never asked for our half an hour head count.

As for that second till being open i've NEVER seen it happen until we have 5 partners on the floor. We just found that it was very hard for the drinks to keep up with two tills open and found the speed faster with a floater on brewed coffee and pastries rather then a second till.

Then again it depends on the till person too some people can ring people through pretty quickly while other take time to find buttons or understand how exactally to ring in something like an earl grey vanilla misto.

[Lauren]

Coffeeguy, if you're in the US...ask your shift to order the deployment manual (it's sku'd under the order materials stuff) and you impliment a 4-on with two registers and your labor will shoot through the roof and your speed of service will strangely -- drop. I know, it doesn't make sense but I trusted corporate and jumped on board.

It worked amazingly. We get more labor. We get the people we need on floor before, during, and after rushes. I won't say specific budget numbers but we're busy and our half hours went from 40 consistently (in a mid period) to 65 easily.

It's a hard tool to get used to, but it's amazing when it works. Next time you're on shift ask someone for the half hour counts -- once you start getting your hands on them and what they mean see what certain changes do and help/hurt.

Also -- to the person who suggested less frap options? PLEASE. Right now in "box shaped items" we have: blueberry (we're a test market), lemonade, pom, tangerine, strawberry, banana, the darned "must be refridgerated" blackberry drizzle, and I'm SURE I'm missing some. We're knocking over decaf frap EVERY DAY. Gah. If only we had a frap dispenser.

[Boston Starbucks Rebel]

Yes,deployment is always necessary and we adhere to it. Also, many of partners are slowly assimilated into the store and soon join the hive mind. My mind acts as the central link and therefore gives commands to all the other partners depending on the needs of the store. The telepathic link only grows stronger over time as the hive voice goes deeper into the subconscious that cannot resist us. None of the partners in my store bump into each other because we all deploy correctly. Everyone remains at their primary positions. Also for the love of God, build in the blender and use the volumetric scoops.

[thealater]

Iced coffee is my favorite drink, Lou. Sorry to hear that the giveaway was a hassle! It was a regional promotion probably--my store didn't have one. We did have free brewed coffee a couple of times, we had ordered extra supplies and set up an extra table with extra condiments and milk bullets. It was a lot of fun!

Iced coffee tastes the best at Starbucks because it is fresher. We make it three times a day. Other places you go to probably make it and let it sit for days. If it is longer than four hours at room temp, or longer than eight hours in the refridgerator, Lou, it isn't fresh.

[416barista]

sbuxmanager....our store expanded into the next door retailer, more then doubling our space!!

I think that one big reason that some stores are so slow is that there is no organization!! I've worked shifts at some stores where the cbs is so poorly set-up that its no wonder they can't get drinks out fast. Blenders on one side, no sink within arms reach, counters with 2 levels....stuff that makes no sense!!!

[Deusx]

Thats not organization, thats poor design, which seems to be a recurring theme at the new locations I've seen or worked at. In fact, at least in this area, store design and upkeep seem to be very much lacking. Poor design and flow of the workstations and crappy construction and upkeep. It seems Starbucks is either being ripped off or skimps very much when it comes to facility management... at least in this region.

[Boston Starbucks Rebel]

Also how many of us call it correctly? Its frappuccino(r) blended coffee, frappuccino(r) blended creme and frappuccino(r) juice blend. It is not frappuccino or frappe. Get it right and protect our registered trademark!

[coffeeguy :)]

Accually I'm a Canadian partner. :)

I'll ask my manager to order that deployment manual it can't hurt.

Personally I'll admit that we are not IMO a very busy store at all. there are times where we only get 5 or 6 people in a half hour space.

After working at a high volume mall store I really ache to go back to a high volume store.

Standing around looking for something to clean really isn't fun. :P

[nickname]

deployment isn't in stone though.

depending on your store and the set up, it has to be dynamic.

while it's optimal to have two tills open, if you have a high espresso/ blended UPH, especially in the AM, it's often times more advantagous to have two in the drink prep areas, and two in register area...

if you can only afford 4 people for peak, and the workload is equally split between bar and till, then keep your 4 deployed that way...

IF the workload is harder on floater and till than blended and bar, then your deplpoyment should be more dynamic - have the blended person have till 2, and SLIDE between the two when the need arises (which would be when bar can't take both blended and espresso)
don't slide when you have just one blended/shaken. slide when the workload is heavier on prep than money taking...

does that make sense?

(i teach deployment.
i certainly know that deployment, while optimally should be followed like the maps, doesn't alway work in all situations. with a good floater, who is constantly reevaluating the needs of the business, you can create the right balance without following it literally to a t.)

[nickname]

also - don't order anything!
it's all on the portal

[my opinion..]

More Blenders?
More Staff?
Bigger store?

No offence but none of that will help. Blenders are LOUD, two going at once is enough to make it nearly impossible to communicate between partners and with customers, that is NOT good. More Staff, ha, more fish in a fish tank and you think you've accomplished something? No, Im already bumping into people. Bigger store? Perhaps some (as all stores are not built equally) but in essence, a bigger store could mean the spacing between bars, ice, cups etc is just further away and thus making it slower to manage.

The key is deployment. A person must be assigned to cold beverage station strictly during a rush on fraps. Its also a matter of experience at speed and accuracy, also partners should all be very fluent with the cup markings on Fraps, as they are STUPID and RIDICULOUS codes that take more time to read than to make it feels. Not to sound too cheesy but its about teamwork- communication between partners, helping to prepare, and pass off the drinks is a lifesaver.

In the end I think there is way too much selection in fraps, it is not necessary! And second of all, I do not understand why there is a frap rush in the AM. I will never understand a person who wants a frappuccino in the morning. Never.

[sbuxmanager]

Anyone who gets on a line behind 20 other people and doesn't expect to wait needs a swift kick in the ass.

[Boston Starbucks Rebels]

Starbucks does not serve FRAPS! We served frappuccino(r) blended coffee, frappuccino(r) blendd creme and frappuccino(r) juice blend. You can get a frap anywhere but Starbucks has a registered trademark on the above beverages! I rather think of deployment not as dynamic but rather multadaptively organic.

[J]

Ok, so I know we're supposed to build the frappuccinos in the blenders not the cups anymore, but (my dark secret) if I am on espresso bar and another partner is making frappuccinos - and I have no drinks and she has 20 lined up - I sure as heck grab her CBB/Frap/etc.,) and start building them in-cup. That way all she has to do is rinse her blenders, add ice and go.The new blenders have the same lines at the same measurements as the cups do, so what's the difference? Especially if it saves stress, waiting time, etc., and still serves an up-to-standard drink..

~ J

J - amen!

[Becca]

J, I still make fraps in the cup on occassion when it's really busy, because it keeps things moving. Even with 8 blender pitchers, you can still get backed up. When our DM came in for our UBC back in may, someone made the banana frappuccinos in the cup, and the DM freaked. We're not supposed to make them in the cup, because the drink becomes incosistent (frap base lines the cup, puree may streak the cup in places) and it is therefore not up to standards. Anal? you bet, but that's the reason.

[jabanga]

this actually comes from the other thread that is related to this topic but i can clearly state one fact: the large variety of frappuccinos and customization options have alot to do with the speed of service issues. a barista making espresso drinks can customize each beverage on the fly and keep up speed but when cutomer after customer orders different blended beverages there is now way to go any faster than your blenders because you have to blend each drink seperately. back when the frappuccino menu wasn't so diverse you would generally be able to maximize your blender production by consistently blending multiple drinks at a time. that rarely happens anymore.

[Lauren]

When corporate came to do the blend test last year they told us that the pitchers eliminate waste, minimize mess, and help speed.

Here's my only problem...say you're off by 1/8'' in the cup with base. Ok, a little too much. But imagine being 1/8'' of an inch off in a pitcher (WAY easy to do if you're not down on eye level) you've just increased your surface area and thus increased your base a ton. Frappuccinos seem to come out either sloppy or hard and if you measure to the line, I've never gotten one that looks or feels like the old in cup ones. Admittedly -- I do it sometimes to speed up the line (I don't care how many blenders or pitchers you have, it'll create chaos).

Even with deployment sometimes you hit a wall and I do agree that it's a flexible plan and that everything seems to hinge on the floater knowing his/her job. I like to think that I'm on top of that 24/7 but in all honesty -- it's getting a little stressfull and time consuming.

Also -- while the deployment maps ARE on the portal -- the actual info contained in the deployment book is not. It's still worth ordering and suggesting as a store change (kind of like frappuccinos in cubes as a set up).

[Boston Starbucks Rebel]

Does anybody use the shakers anymore. We found out at our store that the shakers deprive the person of less tea and more water/lemonde. Any opinions on this? Also, if you have 20 cold beverages and no bar drinks then I ask the question, how did this bottleneck in the first place begin. The floater or espresso station partner should have slid immediately to assist the cold beverage station, instead of allowing the cold beverages to pile-up. Also, the store manager should have scheduled more labor because this is a situation of poor staffing.

[Lauren]

(my life is a situation of poor staffing)

[biloandbiggles]

I am a starbucks customer and find this website fascinating! I work in a totally unrelated industry...although I used to wait tables and tend bar, so I can understand the need to service customers quickly and to be able to multitask when preparing drinks.

The drive-thru in my suburban Los Angeles neighborhood is crazy busy..but kudos to the people who work at that location. The line of cars MOVES!
They crank drinks out lightning fast. I am always amazed at the speed.

That being said...my morning latte is generally better if I get out of the car and order it at the counter vs. when I go through drive through. But as a customer, I understand the trade off.

Why are people always in such a hurry? Is a few minutes too long to wait for a good cup of coffee?

People just need to chill!

Keep up the good work!

i think the shaker idea is stupid.
they had us go from making tea, to making double stregth tea. so we could dilute it with water in a shaker, and shake it up, to make a "show". starbucks sometimes has the idea that people want the"show" and they don't get it if they order just a tea.
i think they are realizing now that people just want the darn tea.
this isn't an old fashioned diner society...at least not from 5-9am.
starbucks came in wanting that atmosphere of old fashioned community, the community seems like they just want to get in and out
-------------------
also, i have not seen any drop because of frappuccinos.- at least i have not seen paople walking out of my store. i have seen more sympathetic customers the last couple of days, though!
i think every summer has dropped sales. it is HOT.
hang on to your shares...holiday is upon us.

[Becca]

If we didn't make our tea double strength, we couldn't make tea-lemonade, which is, at least at my store, a very popular drink. We shake to mix. Is it NEEDED? well, do you think a martini needs to be shaken? (or stirred, if that's what you prefer). It's the same principle. You're mixing the beverage, cooling off the entire drink, and aerating it.

[Coffee Slave]

This maybe off topic, but on the tea lemonades and iced coffees, are supposed to charge for classic syrup? I am really confused about that becuase I hear different things from different people.

[Becca]

nope, classic syrup is part of the recipes, and built into the price. That's why when you order it unsweetened, you put an x through the syrup box, because you are altering it from the standard recipe.