Starbucks stores around the United States are quietly preparing to roll out a new line of smoothies, called Vivanno, next week.
Some stores have even started a countdown for customers. In at least four coffee shops in Los Angeles and Chicago on Friday, chalkboards announced that Vivanno Nourishing Blends smoothies would be available in just four days.
Starbucks officials wouldn’t say anything more about the smoothies, but the in-store signs pretty much said it all, including that the drinks would come in orange-mango-banana and banana-chocolate flavors.
Could Vivanno be the breath of fresh air Starbucks needs to turn itself around? In 10 years, will “Vivanno” be as iconic a word as “Frappuccino?”
You’ve got four days to mull that over before you can taste them for yourself.
Trackback
56 comments so far
Previous | 3 | 2 | 1 | Next
The Vivanno is vile. It tastes like a nasty egg, and is a bit chalky. It is not worth the nutritional benefits…and it is definetly not the “new frappuccino.” If you are a brave soul and are willing to try, then I salute you, my friend!
- Posted by LizIt is interesting to hear people talking about how they can’t have caffeine-but they are still consuming it. What people don’t realize is that there is still caffeine in a decaffinated drink-it just has less in it. Therefore, it isn’t so much a question of not taking it in, but limiting it.
- Posted by JessStill, I understand the desire to limit the intake-especially in the late afternoon. It’s bad when you need a frap fix and ending up staying up all night because of it!
“As my wife and I have enjoyed your decaf mocha frappuccino over the years we were quite surprised when we went to our local Starbucks and learned that they are no longer available. The excuse we heard was something about a new drink is being introduced. As we can only drink decaf beverages we turned around and walked out.”
The mocha has about 90grams of caffeine to begin with, so if you thought for a second you were drinking a decaf drink, or are that adamant about drinking decaf drinks then you deserve this disservice.
Do your homework. Chocolate has caffeine. Every “decaf” mocha you had was equivalent to a straight shot of caffeinated espresso.
- Posted by SteveI like the idea of the smoothie. Especially since I don’t have a smoothie shop nearby. Also, i’ve started adding the protein in my fraps, and VERY happy about that.
- Posted by BjorkfansophLUV IT, IT’S DELICIOUS!!! ORANGE MANGO BANANA: 16 G PROTEIN, WHOLE BANANA, ORANGE MANGO STUFF VIT C GREAT FOR BREAKFAST ON GO! MY NEW DRINK OF CHOICE!!!!
- Posted by MATI agree with Richard. I only drink decaf and liked the frappucino for a treat instead of a milkshake. I’ll start going back to Baskin Robbins or Ben & Jerry’s for my treat. (And I have a hard time believing making a decaf frappucino is more trouble than making a smoothie.)
- Posted by MagsThey did actually discontinue the decaf Frap (it’s finally mentioned on the Wikipedia for Frappucino). What a horrible decision by Starbucks! I am quite frankly not stupid enough to go to SBUX everyday, but I did enjoy a decaf frap after a nice dinner about once per week. Last week, I was informed that the only drink I would possibly purchase at this place was discontinued. Then they wonder why market share is shrinking forcing them to close stores. HUGE MISTAKE!!! But what do I care, lately Starbucks employees and stores have been getting more deplorable and disgusting anyways. Time to try a different guilty pleasure.
- Posted by RichardThe Vivanno got all this publicity, so my husband and I had to try it. Of course we read that there were free coupons available so we asked for them at our local Starbucks. No coupons, we were told, but they made us two small samples of the Chocolate Banana Vivanno. I was shocked when I finally placed why it tasted so familiar…..it’s like drinking a Slimfast (girls you remember those, right?)…but worse…with the taste of an overpowering banana. I love a frozen chocolate-dipped banana, but this Vivanno…..ugh. If this is one step toward recovery I have a feeling Starbucks will continue its descent. Personally after talking with so so many people in NYC where I live I tend to think that management has their heads in the wrong area; diversity isn’t the answer, the answer is the price. By giving late afternoon discounts only if you’ve bought a morning coffee you defeat the goal of trying to bring the masses into local Starbucks. It’s the reason Dunkin Donuts is doing so well….in these economic times you need volume of purchase because those who used to be able to afford a Starbucks coffee have now fled toward a more moderately priced product. The Starbucks cache/status quotient was on its way to oblivion once it was made available ground in bags ready to take home in places like WalMart and at your local supermarket. No one feels ‘cool’ anymore just because there’s a logo on the cup. Bring the price down and they will come, I say….
- Posted by Judy[...] Forbes.com. Curious that Starbucks’ new line of smoothies, introduced last month, are branded Vivanno. The word “Vivanno” looks curiously derivative of the Italian word vivranno, meaning [...]
- Posted by » Starbucks unveils new strategy in Australia: “Sell that #$%@ to the tourists” » Espresso News and Reviews - TheShot.coffeeratings.comWow..that last posting points out the need to switch some Starbucks employees to decaf! Unhappy workers/ people will always remain unhappy- fire them from your life.
Starbucks needs to get back to basics- quality coffee, shorter lines, nice servers, less noisy stores, and healthy food. Peet’s- tastier and quieter (free cup w/ 1/2 lb purchase) ; Dutch Brothers (local)- tastier, faster (drive thru) and nice servers (smoothies yummy!); locals shops cheaper. Jamba juice is tastier and will change to offer healthier alternatives. Store closures and smoothies will help the bottom line. Add microbrews to the menu and people will flock in. Come to Portland, Oregon…it’s a great place in the summer.
- Posted by davidAttention everyone who actually thinks Starbucks/Sbux employees, etc give a crap about what you think about their store…..WE DONT CARE. I used to work at SBux and had to deal with complainers like you every single day…I’m sorry, but when I have a line out BOTH doors, it is kind of annoying for you to modify every single stupid thing about your drink just so you can call it out in front of other patrons and feel special - clearly, you can stir in your own stupid Splenda when your drink is hot…and, if you ask for HALF of a Splenda, I am still going to give you the whole packet - do you REALLY think I have the time or actually CARE enough to measure it out for you? NO. Oh, and by the way, when you are a jerk to me day after day about your drink being “too hot” or “not enough whip cream” when CLEARLY you got Skim Milk (whats the point??!!) I am going to give you Whole Milk and no sugar free anything, just to spite you. When you are a jerk to us day after day, WHY would you think we care about your stupid modifications? WE DONT. Because, quite frankly, we DONT need your business - if you want to take your money somewhere else, PLEASE DO - and TAKE YOUR ATTITUDE TOO, WHILE YOU’RE AT IT!!!!! NEITHER is needed at Starbucks. Oh, and by the way, maybe if you spent your $80/week on a personal trainer instead of fattening and sugary drinks, you wouldn’t be so damn FAT.
- Posted by Tanrowrowrow —if you dont like what your store has to make then find a new job…I own quite a few shares in SBUX and no wonder I am loosing money if there are managers like you!! I have tried the drinks and they are pretty good, I prefer coffee drinks but these drinks could bring in coustomers who normally would not be in Starbucks.
- Posted by ckatteberryI was also a very loyal decaf/light frappucino customer.. usually buy at least 2 or 3 a week for the last several years.. many stores would make the decaf/light mix, but not all.. (that was fine as I could compromise a little..) but I’ve been to 4 different stores in the LA area the past 2 weeks and all of them discontinued the decaf.
I made an effort to ask 3/4 store barista’s what the general reaction has been to the discontinuation of decaf fraps, and all have said there has been a tremendous amount of dissapointment. One guy said they can’t understand why they would do this as sometimes up to 1/2 of their customers after 3 pm that ordered fraps were decaf.
I also wrote an email to SB and told them they lost a very loyal customer.
p.s. I tried the banana-choc vivanno and it was not something I’d likely order again… not horrible, but for the price and taste, not worth it to me.
- Posted by snowaveWell I have to say there certainly are a lot of different opinions about the vivanno. If Starbucks wasn’t sampling it I probably would have never ordered it. But I kept walking in to order my venti non fat latte and kept trying the samples and I have say…I LOVE IT! I’m addicted. So..yes..it’s not a frappucino but I have to tell you…I’m glad because those are way to sweet for me. I was looking for something not quite so sweet, healthy, refreshing, filling and somewhat balanced with good flavor and this has it all! I can down one so fast it’s scary! I don’t adjust it all and I prefer the Orange Mango Banana though the other one is not bad either! I was especially excited there was no added sugar and NO ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS! I feel so great after I drink one! Now..I order the Vivanno and still get my latte at the same time…how bad is that! I’ve doubled my spending! That has to be a great move on Starbucks part! It’s good to offer different drinks…not everything tastes the same to everyone!
- Posted by dENISELike I said before….not ALL Decaf Frappuccino’s are discontinued. We haven’t discontinued it yet and we still have the Vivanno drinks. We discontinued another drink that barely sells. Some of the baristas need to get there facts straight before telling customers that ALL starbucks will be discontinuing this drink.
Your making us all look bad with inconsistant answers…
- Posted by DonnaMyself and my husband also cannot have caffeine and were huge fans of decaf frappuccino.
Ironically, I had stopped going to the Sbux I had been to every day of my life for 6 years (and where I got to know all the baristas, went to parties with them, had them over to my house, etc) after an employee was unforgivably rude to me over my politely, and with a big smile, asking her to add sugar to my Americano *before* it was poured over ice. All kinds of eye-rolling, loud sighs, SLAMMING the drinks down on the counter, etc. followed. I was stunned at how blatantly her little display was. I spoke to the (new) manager and he apologized and gave me 2 free drink coupons.
I didn’t go back for 3 weeks. When I finally gave in one Sunday morning, lo and behold the same manager and same barista were working. The barista saw me walk in and walked up to the manager, whispered and giggled in his ear, he laughed, and then they both exuberantly high-fived each other. As I was standing at the counter waiting, the manager turned toward the barista again and said, in a deeply sarcastic voice “Sweetie? Maybe you should take this opportunity to take out the garbage.” She looked at him and winked and laughed and walked away. I guess I understand why 80% of the staff left when this new manager had been at this location for six weeks.
Anyway, back to the irony: all of the above happened about six months ago. I have not been to that Sbux one single time in that six months. This last weekend I had been working in the garden for a few hours and was hot and tired and all I could think about was a Decaf Mocha Frappuccino. So I gave in again and went to Sbux. And guess what? They had discontinued my favorite drink!! Now, thank god, I have no reason at all to patronize a “coffee” shop that protects abusive and hostile baristas, discontinues beloved classic beverages in order to “make more room in the fridge” as I was told, etc.
I guess I’ll take that $80/week I was spending at Starbucks (that’s right, my drink + my husband’s drink = $11/day) and go to the fantastic INDEPENDENT coffee shop across the street. Sorry, Starbucks. I was loyal to you for years. No wonder your company is failing.
- Posted by Michele