Striving4Zen

On June 30, the world's top coffee chain will begin selling baked goods without high-fructose corn syrup or artificial flavors and dyes, and will introduce salads and other items.

"Food has been the Achilles' heel of the company ... That statement will be long buried after we launch this program," Michelle Gass, Starbucks' EVP of marketing, told Reuters on Tuesday.

The new campaign -- which will be promoted with the tag "Real Food. Simply Delicious" -- follows last year's health and wellness push that added food like oatmeal, smoothies and a protein plate to Starbucks' repertoire.

The ingredient changes, which also include removing preservatives where possible, will affect about 90% of the baked goods Starbucks sells and are part of the coffee chain's ongoing efforts to appeal to increasingly health-conscious consumers as recession has damped spending on little luxuries like lattes.

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Labels: baked goods, eating healthy, health trend, healthier, high fructose corn syrup, marketing, pastries, recession, Starbuck's

Starbucks is rolling out a serious reinvention of its breakfast food.

The more nutrition-friendly food — fewer calories, more protein, fiber and fruit — will show up Sept. 3 on the breakfast menu at most of the 11,570 locations in the U.S. and Canada. Six new items include hot oatmeal, an energy bar and a whole-grain apple bran muffin with fruit pieces.

Starbucks plans to revamp its lunch and dinner menus, too, in 2009. The goal is to lure back core customers who are visiting its stores less often and spending less when they do.

Industry consultant Malcolm Knapp says, "Starbucks is following a fundamental trend: People want to eat better-for-you food that tastes good."

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Labels: breakfast, health trend, oatmeal, Starbuck's

Realizing that people are willing to forgo the four dollars for a 700 calorie mocha for a dollar-fifty cup of coffee with milk that has much less calories, Starbucks will be adding a new beverage to their already long list of drinks. Welcome the “Skinny," a nonfat Latte made with sugar-free syrup. Starbucks is also adding a new sugar-free syrup flavor — Mocha — to the current selection of Vanilla, Hazelnut, Caramel, and Cinnamon Dolce.

Why is this cool? Well the tall (12 fl. oz.) Caffè Latte or Caffè Mocha ordered with sugar-free syrup, steamed nonfat milk, and foam contains only 90 calories. If customers replace their daily tall Starbucks Vanilla Latte with a Skinny Vanilla Latte they would save 700 calories and 35 grams of fat per week! Swapping out a daily, tall Caffè Mocha (made with 2% milk and no whip) for a Skinny Mocha would save 550 calories and 30 grams of fat per week. This means that Starbucks has finally taken the guess work out of figuring out how to get a yummy coffee without tons of calories. Look for the Skinny to be hitting Starbucks nationwide starting January 2008.

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Labels: coffee, Skinny, Starbuck's