SEATTLE -- Starbucks Corp. said that it plans to introduce several new warm breakfast sandwiches next week, according to the Associated Press. The sandwiches, called Piadini, will feature artisan bread and will be filled with either sausage, egg and cheese or portobello mushroom, spinach and ricotta cheese.
Starbucks also is adding ovens to 800 more stores. The ovens are currently in about 3,000 locations. Gass said that over time, ovens will be in 90% of the stores.
The company recently changed the kind of cheese it was using in its warm breakfast sandwiches to neutralize the cooking [image-nocss] smell, which it found interfered with the coffee aroma and prompted customer criticism.
Starbucks added several new breakfast items earlier this month, including oatmeal, apple bran muffins and multigrain rolls. Gass said the oatmeal in particular has been extremely successful.
Spokesperson Lisa Passe said new lunch items will be launched in the next six to eight months.
The retailer will also debut its first-ever Thanksgiving coffee blend, aimed at beefing up holiday-season sales, added a report by MarketWatch.
While Starbucks generates less than 25% of its total annual revenue from food sales, the company is making a bigger push to improve its food menu. Part of the aim is to attract customers that may otherwise go to McDonald's or Dunkin' Donuts.
Starbucks, which has faced declining traffic at its stores this year as the U.S. economy has softened, also wants to cater to its longtime customers that have demanded healthier edible options. Since the introduction of the healthier breakfast items, Starbucks has seen the average food-ticket price per customer go up, said Michelle Gass, the company's senior vice president of marketing.
Despite the weaker U.S. economy that has increased the nation's unemployment level, Starbucks is not planning on changing its coffee prices. The company has been pitching special deals to its registered card-club members to boost store traffic. Starbucks will not be extending one deal that gave all patrons the chance to buy a $2 grande drink in the afternoon if they had bought a similar drink in the morning. The deal, known as the treat receipt, started in August and will end this month.
Separately, Seattle-based Starbucks Coffee Co. and Unilever announced last week an exclusive licensing agreement for the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of Starbucks ice cream in the United States and Canada.
In addition to Ben & Jerry's, Unilever's ice cream brands in North America include Breyers, Good Humor, Klondike and Popsicle. For Starbucks ice cream, Unilever will employ its research and development and creative resources to produce super-premium ice cream innovations inspired by Starbucks coffee and classic coffeehouse flavors.
The companies' ice cream licensing agreement builds upon an existing relationship for the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of Starbucks Tazo ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages, which was announced last month. Starbucks and the Pepsi/Lipton Tea Partnership (PLP), a joint venture between Unilever and PepsiCo, signed a licensing agreement to manage the product line.
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