The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

The new Starbucks drinks have a tablespoon of olive oil in each cup

2023-02-22T19:14:04.577Z


Starting this week, Starbucks coffee shops in Italy are offering three drinks with olive oil. Each includes Oleato, Starbucks' word for the new line, in its name.


Starbucks would study selling its business in the UK 1:05

New York (CNN) --

Starbucks wants you to try coffee with olive oil.

Really.


The cafeteria chain will launch a new line of drinks made with extra virgin olive oil.

To be clear, the drinks are not simply flavored with olive oil, nor are they just a touch.

Each one actually has a tablespoon of oil, which adds 120 calories to the total.

With some drinks, you can see a shiny layer of oil in the cup, and there's no need to squint.

Starting this week, Starbucks coffee shops in Italy are offering three drinks with olive oil.

Each includes Oleato, Starbucks' word for the new line, in its name.

  • The best diet for 2023 is once again the Mediterranean, backed by science: how does it work?

There's an Oleato latte with oat milk and olive oil, an Oleato ice shaken espresso with oat milk, hazelnut flavor and olive oil, and the Oleato golden foam cold brew, made with a version of Starbucks' sweet milk foam. infused with two portions of olive oil.

Versions of these drinks will arrive in Southern California this spring, with more details on their US launch coming soon.

This year they will launch in other markets in the UK, the Middle East and Japan.

Starbucks Oleato drinks are made with extra virgin olive oil.

Courtesy of Starbucks

Like other big chains, Starbucks often tweaks its menu, releasing seasonal limited-edition items or introducing new ingredients, like oat milk.

But this launch is much bigger, Brady Brewer, Starbucks chief marketing officer, told CNN.

"It's one of the biggest launches we've done in decades," he said.

"More than a flavor or a product, it's really a platform," he said, which means customers will be able to use olive oil to personalize some drinks.

advertising

The company is betting that people will hear about the drink and try it because they are intrigued to know what it tastes like.

And perhaps because they have heard that extra virgin olive oil is beneficial for health.

Howard Schultz, interim CEO of Starbucks, in an interview with Poppy Harlow at the Asaro farm in Sicily.

Credit: Li-Lian Ahlskog House/CNN

With Oleato, Starbucks is taking a risk.

Adding fat to coffee is nothing new.

It can be made the old-fashioned way, with cream or milk, or even butter.

There are recipes for coffee with olive oil on the Internet.

But consumers are not crying out for coffee with olive oil.

And Starbucks is launching the line at a time when supply chains are fragile, consumers are watching their budgets and baristas, some of whom are so frustrated with the company that they have joined a union, are already grappling with orders. of complicated drinks.

Why is Starbucks launching this new line?

Two words: Howard Schultz.

  • This 136-year-old London cafe doesn't need to keep up with the times

Close the circle

Last year, Schultz met olive oil producer Tommaso Asaro, who introduced him to the practice of consuming one tablespoon of olive oil a day.

This summer, during a visit to Sicily, Schultz learned more about this practice and became fond of it.

He wondered if he could combine it with his daily coffee routine.

"When we got together and started doing this ritual I said [to Asaro], I know you think I'm going to be crazy, but have you ever thought about infusing a tablespoon of olive oil in your Starbucks coffee?" Schultz said , current interim CEO of Starbucks, to CNN's Poppy Harlow.

"It seemed a bit strange to him."

Asaro is the president of United Olive Oil, through which Starbucks sources its olive oil.

Howard Schultz and Tommaso Asaro, president of United Olive Oil, which produces the Partanna olive oil that Starbucks uses for Oleato.

Credit: Li-Lian Ahlskog House/CNN

For Schultz, making business decisions based on visits to Italy is not new.

Schultz joined Starbucks in 1982, 11 years after the first store opened (the original Starbucks sold whole-bean coffee).

In 1982, Starbucks was a very small company with four stores.

Schultz, who had joined as director of operations and marketing, visited Milan in 1983 and was smitten with the city's coffee culture.

The rest, he says, is history.

"My Starbucks trip will come full circle when I return to Milan later this month to introduce something much bigger than any new promotion or drink," Schultz said during a February conference call with analysts to announce the new line.

In 1983, Howard Schultz was inspired by Milan.

Last year, he took notes from Sicily, where olive oil is produced.

Partanna, in the photo, is a town in Sicily close to the Asaro farm.

Credit: Li-Lian Ahlskog House/CNN

Speaking to CNN's Harlow, he predicted that the new platform will "transform the coffee industry" and be "a very profitable new addition to the company."

It is one thing to play with the idea of ​​adding olive oil to coffee on a whim, but another to come up with a set of drinks that can attract customers from all over the world.

To do this, Schultz turned to his team at Starbucks in Seattle, where the chain's headquarters are located.

There they had to figure out how to make coffee with olive oil taste good.

  • Where to find the best coffee in the world and how do they do it?

a unique case

Starbucks doesn't normally create new beverages based on its CEO's ideas.

"This is a pretty unique case," Brewer told CNN.

But, he pointed out, "we have ideas coming from everywhere."

The Starbucks beverage team came up with about 12 options, which were narrowed down to the three that are now available in Starbucks Italian coffee shops.

(The Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Milan will serve five Oleato drinks, including a deconstructed espresso, an iced cortado, and an espresso martini, all of which are tossed with olive oil.)

Starbucks opened its first Italian location, the Roastery, in 2018, a decision that was greeted with caution by locals.

But five years later, it has managed to expand throughout the country.

For the release of Oleato, Schultz is back in Italy to see how the Italians react.

"And if they don't like it?"

Harlow asks.

In that case, "I'm not going back to Seattle," Schultz joked.

A barista pours extra virgin olive oil into a chilled passion fruit foam before blending it into the espresso.

Credit: Li-Lian Ahlskog House/CNN

In recent years, beverage companies have incorporated ingredients such as turmeric or CBD into their recipes, which customers consider healthy or offer certain benefits, such as helping to fall asleep.

Starbucks does not make any health claims with Oleato, but hopes that people, through their own research, will come to see it as a healthy choice.

  • Olive oil can reduce the risk of heart disease if you use it like this

And those 120 extra calories?

"We haven't seen it as an obstacle," Brewer says.

"We're not too concerned about it."


Brewer and Schultz also dismissed some of the other challenges.

And as for how likely people are to shell out extra money for oil, Brewer said customers view Starbucks as an "affordable luxury."

In the last three months of 2022, sales at Starbucks stores that have been open for at least 13 months rose 5% globally, despite higher prices.

In Brewer and Schultz's opinion, the only risk is that the drinks won't be delicious.

The proof, they say, is in the cup.

the taste test

I had the opportunity to try four Oleato drinks in New York: the latte with hot oatmeal drink, the cold brew with golden foam, the espresso with ice, oatmeal and hazelnut drink, and an iced cortado like the one they serve in Milan.

The oil was noticeable in cold drinks: it gave the foam a pale green tint and appeared as a thin bubbly layer on top of espresso and cortado.

At the first sip, I liked them all.

To me, the golden head on the cold brew had the strongest olive oil flavor: nutty, sweet, and surprising, as promised.

I could detect it in the cortado and espresso more subtly.

In the hot latte, I couldn't perceive it at all.

A cold brew with a lot of olive oil.

Courtesy of Starbucks

But after a few sips of each, it seemed like too much.

I usually drink regular coffee with non-dairy milk, preferably without sugar.

So sweet cold drinks, especially espresso on ice and cortado, seemed like a delicious treat.

They would have been just fine without the olive oil, which seemed like an unnecessary garnish.

Starbucks describes the drinks as lush and smooth, thanks to the oil.

But they were heavy for me.

And still a while after trying the drinks, I could feel the oil on my lips.

It turns out that I prefer olive oil in my food.

Starbucks will have to wait and see if the majority of people think otherwise.

Olive OilDrink CoffeeStarbucks

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2023-02-22

You may like

Life/Entertain 2024-01-29T17:59:50.392Z
Life/Entertain 2024-02-08T06:03:06.604Z
Life/Entertain 2024-02-19T18:11:37.974Z

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-27T16:45:54.081Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.