Shop Talk

Starbucks testing green coffee drinks

Starbucks will begin testing summer drinks with a base of green, unroasted coffee in San Diego today as it works on new products to drive sales and put more distance between itself and rivals like McDonald’s — which is rolling out the kinds of drinks that Starbucks built its business on.

The drinks, called “Refreshers,” will be offered in cool lime and very berry hibiscus flavors. They are made with fruit and are low in calories and caffeine, said Julie Felss Masino, Starbucks’ vice president of global beverage. 

Ingredients include a “flavor neutral” powdered extract made from unroasted green coffee and formulated to have less of a caffeine kick than regular coffee, Felss Masino said.

“It’s coffee that doesn’t taste like coffee,” she said, noting that the test is a response to customer requests for more “overtly” thirst-quenching drinks.  

Starbucks has been focused on introducing new drinks like Via instant coffee and create-your-own Frappuccino after a massive restructuring that resulted in the closure of roughly 900 cafes around the globe.  Both new drinks efforts have helped to boost sales amid a still weak U.S. economy.

Meanwhile, McDonald’s has built a profitable new beverage business based on Starbucks’ core products, including espresso-based drinks, fruit smoothies and frappes. 

The green coffee-based drinks are a first for Starbucks. While some companies are marketing green coffee on the Internet as a weight-loss aid, the world’s biggest coffee chain does not promote Refreshers to shed pounds, representatives said. 

Is Starbucks’ Vivanno the next Frappuccino?

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.