Dive Brief:
- Starbucks has standardized the cost of flavor modifications to provide fewer fees when customers customize their beverages, the company said in an email.
- Consumers will be charged $0.80 for any combination of sauces and syrups, including limited-time syrups and sauces. Guests can also add a classic syrup to any drink or modify pre-flavored drinks for no additional charge.
- The move comes several months after Starbucks removed upcharges on non-dairy milk, which constituted a roughly 10% price cut for consumers using milk alternatives.
Dive Insight:
Starbucks cut back on discounting shortly after CEO Brian Niccol joined the chain last year to turnaround the brand’s flagging performance. Discounts were seen as an ineffective means of driving traffic. Niccol said last year that the brand’s pricing system needed to be more streamlined because customers would often be surprised by all the additional upcharges for customizations.
One of the biggest changes Starbucks confirmed Wednesday is the creation of a flat fee for customers adding sauces or syrup modifiers. The pricing changes exist alongside efforts to simplify its menu and create more “guardrails” to customizations, Niccol previously said.
Customers often created drinks with modifiers that were complicated to execute and not the best way to construct a drink, Niccol said.
The chain removed some less popular drinks from its menu in March, with plans to reduce the menu by 30% by the end of the year. This would yield a menu with fewer complex drinks, and could reduce wait times. Among those first round of removals were an Iced Matcha Lemonade along with several frappuccinos.
Customers are also charged an additional fee when they add additional products like chai concentrate ($0.80), matcha powder ($1 per scoop in non-match drinks) and dried fruit ($0.50 per scoop). However, adding matcha powder to matcha drinks will be charged differently: Adding an extra scoop to a grande matcha will bring the price up to the level of a venti matcha latte.
