You probably rarely go a day without seeing a beautiful shot of a Starbucks drink on your social media. These coffees are ripe for taking Insta-worthy moments, especially with over-the-top offerings like the instantly viral Unicorn. But you're probably going to be seeing less of these complicated, limited-time drinks in stores soon, much to the glee of some baristas.
Starbucks has been "cutting back" on limited-time coffee drinks for a bit now (this was first announced in April 2018) and the plan has been a big success, according to financial analysts quoted by Business Insider.
"Looking ahead, Starbucks plans to avoid limited time offer beverages that can complicate operations, and instead innovate seasonally around enduring platforms," Andrew Charles, a research analyst at Cowen, wrote in a report.
This makes sense because gimmicky Frapps that are only offered for a few days, say like the Tie-Dye Frapp, can cause a learning curve among baristas, reportedly increase wait times, and leave customers disappointed when drinks don't look exactly like they do online. Practice makes perfect, and these don't always leave a lot of time for practice, apparently.
When Delish reached out to Starbucks, a representative clarified that these limited offerings were not going away completely, but that the chain was simply reducing them by about 30 percent as previously reported.
What we have said is that we take a disciplined approach to these offerings while our focus remains on our winning beverage platforms so our espresso, cold brew, Nitro, Refreshers, Frappuccino and tea. So it doesn't mean that there will be no LTOs [limited-time offers]: This year we've had the S'mores Frappuccino, Pumpkin Spice, and Tie Dye. So, we're just going to be a little more disciplined in what we offer out of that experience.
The re-focus seems to be working in Starbucks' favor. Andrew Charles applauded the chain's recent addition of Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew (a Delish office favorite) and Nitro Cold Brew, which seem to be fan favorites as well. I'll personally take a seasonal cold brew over a few days of special Frapps, don't @ me!
