Found this WaPo article reporting that Starbucks is trying to get people to buy sushi, do any of you actually buy the food that's sold at Starbucks?: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...with-your-frappuccino/?utm_term=.7e8bfbd8c321
(Courtesy of Starbucks)
Starbucks has tried it all: First came cake pops, then truffle mac and cheese, and earlier this year, avocado toast.
Now the coffee giant is banking on another food fad to drum up lunch and dinner business: The sushi burrito.
The chicken maki roll which the company says, is a classic California burrito with a twist comes with cooked chicken, pickled cabbage and avocado, and is rolled in sushi rice and wrapped with seaweed. It is currently part of the Mercato lunch menu at a handful of stores in Chicago and Seattle, where Starbucks is based.
But first it has to overcome a substantial hurdle: convincing customers its food is worth eating.
Analysts say Starbucks has yet to find much success hawking meals alongside its coffee. The challenges are logistical Starbucks stores dont have kitchens, for example as well as behavioral. Over the past four decades, Starbucks has trained its customers to run in, grab coffee and run out. Getting them to think beyond beverages, or linger for a meal, has proven more difficult, particularly as modern customers demand locally sourced, freshly made food.
Its been decades, but Starbucks is still trying to figure out food, said Stephen Dutton, an analyst for market research firm Euromonitor International. The short answer is, Starbucks food is never going to be better than the hot, made-to-order meals youre going to get at a place like McDonalds or Dunkin Donuts.
The companys new Mercato menu includes grilled cheese sandwiches with burrata, and chicken and quinoa soup.
But analysts say the offerings raise a number of questions: Selling croissants with coffee is one thing, but how do you persuade customers to pair their afternoon lattes with premade sushi? And how willing are customers to shell out $10 for lunch when they could just as easily go elsewhere?
Nobody goes to Starbucks to buy food, Dutton said. When they do buy something, its usually because theyre like, Im starving and I have to get to work, so Im going to pick up this yogurt.'
There is a perception that Starbucks is selling an inferior product, said Nick Setyan, an analyst for Wedbush Securities. Customers are saying, How good can that salad or sandwich be if youre not making it in front of me?
Earlier this year, the company said it would stop selling beer and wine, as well as small plates such as truffle mac and cheese-and-bacon-wrapped figs at its stores. Those additions, rolled out with much fanfare a few years ago, had failed to resonate with customers.
