SEATTLE -- Starbucks customers nationwide will soon be able to buy the coffee chain's new drink size, the 31-ounce "Trenta." While many industry observers are predicting that it will be a success, others believe that it will downshift the perception of Starbucks from an upscale coffeehouse experience to that of a stereotypical fast food or convenience store experience, according to a FOX Business report.
The Trenta, which means "30" in Italian, weighs in at one ounce less than McDonald's 32-ounce iced McCafes and sweet teas, and will cost 50 cents more than Starbucks' current largest [image-nocss] drink, the 24-ounce Venti (the Trenta will only be available for iced coffee, iced tea and lemonade beverages).
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The new size is likely to be a success, according to Susan Fisher, a nutrition professor at Meredith College in Raleigh, N.C., who said that many consumers will try it just because they are fascinated by something new.
"The consumer is easily entertained," she told the news outlet. "Changing anything will bring customers through the door, and there will be a certain number of people who buy it just to see what it's like and then throw half of it away."
Customers who need their coffee on-the-go will likely be the biggest supporters of the Trenta, Fisher added, if the drive-thru success of McDonald's McCafe is any indication. As long as the new Trenta fits in a car cupholder, she said, Starbucks with drive-thru windows are likely to see the biggest interest in the new size.
But the idea of a giant drink being purchased from the side of a building is anathema to the founding principles of the "Starbucks experience," according to Richard Laermer, author of 2011: Trendspotting for the Next Decade.
"Starbucks is about to lose a lot of customers who will start to see the whole Trenta business as making them seem like a 7-Eleven," Laermer told FOX Business. And according to Laermer, "that cheapens the experience."
Starbucks has been successful because it set itself apart from convenience stores and fast-food restaurants, Laermer said, "yet each month it seems they are crowding the shops with more junk and loud music. Even consumers who normally don't pay attention to details like this are starting to feel cheated."
So far, the Trenta has already launched in 14 states, including Texas, Virginia, Georgia and California, after debuting in those states last summer as part of a pilot program, said the report. A Starbucks company spokesperson told FOX Business that the Trenta is being offered in response to positive feedback from the pilot, and customers' requests for larger iced teas and iced coffees.
David Urban, executive associate dean and professor of marketing at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business, told the news outlet that "there is a segment of consumers for whom a 'Venti' drink at Starbucks just isn't enough, just as there is a segment for whom a 'Big Gulp' at 7-Eleven isn't enough. Hence, the 'Super Big Gulp.' So the company is covering an additional user segment."
He added, "Even with all of the consciousness about calories, many American consumers still look at quantity for the money as a big purchase driver, and they see the bigger drinks as a better value than smaller ones. What was once a medium drink in many chains is now a small drink, what was a large drink is now a medium drink, and so on."
Purchase reinforcement and promotion are also part of Starbucks' strategy with the Trenta, according to Urban, who said that the longer a drink takes to consume, the more time the brand name and the company logo have to penetrate the consumers' consciousness.
Starbucks may also be banking on the fact that consumers' eyes are often bigger than their bellies, according to Fisher, who said that coffee drinkers may purchase the Trenta with the idea that they will save money by not having to purchase a second drink later in the day.
"Of course, what Starbucks knows is that you probably weren't going to come back and buy that second drink anyway," Fisher said.
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