The first day of Spring 2017 also marked the day that avocado spread arrived at Starbucks. Stepping up its already diverse menu, Starbucks is introducing the following food items and beverages:
- Organic Avocado Spread
- Ice cream (only in Seattle)
- Lemon Chiffon Yogurt
Starbucks’ Avocado Spread, available nationwide on Tuesday March 22nd, 2017. Photo courtesy of Buzzfeed. - Parrot cake pop
- Cascara Latte
- New flavors of Teavana Iced Tea
- New Packaged snacks
While Starbucks does not sell avocado toast, the newly available avocado spread (for $0.95) comes pretty close if served with a bagel. The ingredients include “fresh, organic Hass avocados, sea salt, onion, garlic, jalapeño pepper and lime juice.” Since its launch on Tuesday, March 21st, the avocado spread has garnered many positive reviews, some claiming that “it might be better than Chipotle’s actual guacamole.”
The coffee giant that has been in business for over 40 years also has plans for further expansion. It is set to open up its first location in Italy. Well known for its coffee culture, Italy ranks 7th for highest per capita coffee consumption in Europe, according to the European Coffee Federation.
In 2014, the first Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room was established in Seattle. According to Starbucks, the Roastery is a fancier place where you can “experience coffee from the unroasted bean to your cup of coffee.” There, you can find some exclusive coffee offerings and merchandise items imported from around the world. The next Roastery in the U.S. is underway in New York City. The NYC Roastery is expected to be the largest Starbucks in the world, taking over 20,000 square feet in a building in the Meatpacking District.
Despite the advances it has made, Starbucks also had to cut back in other areas. For instance, it closed down its Evolution Fresh stores. The Evolution Fresh juice bottles selling at many Starbucks locations actually had a whole kitchen devoted to them in some places in Seattle. Although the Liquiteria-like store idea was trendy, Starbucks decided to close them seemingly in order to shift its efforts to the ready-to-drink shelf products.
Fun facts about Starbucks:
- A Grande coffee has more than 4 times the caffeine than a Redbull.
- It used to have a different logo; the original looked like this.
- Baristas don’t write customer names on cups at the location serving the Central Intelligence Authority (CIA).
- Between Sept. 2015 and Sept. 2016, Starbucks raised 15 million trees for farmers in countries across Latin America. About the One Tree for Every Bag commitment: https://news.starbucks.com/news/starbucks-raises-15million-trees-for-farmers
Some not so fun facts:
- One serving of most of the flavored drinks has more sugar than the recommended intake per day.
- The Venti White Chocolate Mocha has a whopping amount of calories: about 600.
- The #PSL is a fabrication of many artificial flavors and food coloring, according to an investigation by FoodBabe.
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