Starbucks is a beverage-led business that has had an evolving view on the role of food as a part of the offering, guest experience and bottom line. Sparked by the success of the Sous Vide Egg Bite, Starbucks’ appetite for impactful food innovation led to their partnership with TCE. Over several engagements, TCE has driven food innovation for the brand, uncovering new opportunities for food to support and elevate their beverage-led strategies - all within the constraints of a massive and complex operating system.

The opportunity for food innovation.

The Opportunity.

Our Insights.

When we partnered with Starbucks, their food offering consisted primarily of coffeehouse staples - like croissants & muffins. While it performed adequately, this table-stakes food offering was incongruent with the level of craft, intentionality and success of the beverage & bev-led experiential offerings. TCE found that food innovation at Starbucks would be best served at the intersection of special (elevated or unexpected ingredients, flavors, textures and forms) and supportive (complementary to beverage, rather than distracting). This midpoint became a powerful and enduring north star for the future of food at Starbucks.

Our Activities.

As a critical learning and testing ground, the Starbucks Roastery provided an opportune stage for TCE to create a food story that complemented and supported the next-level beverage offering and experiences. By defining guest profiles and mapping their journeys, TCE conceptualized critical pairing moments - where food could be a natural enhancement to coffee-led exploration. Throughout the Roastery experience, TCE developed menu creative to match the craftsmanship of the brand, while also limiting any incremental complexity. Through the creation of these cohesive F&B moments, TCE paved the path for food to contribute to the immersiveness of the Roastery experience. Today, the Roastery enjoys a superior level of attachment to food, in part due to the guest-centric lens on designing F&B menus and experiences.

Further realizing the potential for food at Starbucks, TCE partnered with Starbucks on a first-of-its-kind market test. At the time in 2017, half of guests were coming in after 11am - pointing to a large opportunity to expand into lunch and PM-snacking occasions. A consumer-driven research process led to a core idea of fresh and contemporary on-the-go food. To deliver on premium freshness in a grab n’ go model, the team pursued a commissary approach.

  a fresh & vibrant food portfolio delivered to 100 locations across the Chicago market. 

This culminated in Mercato, a fresh & vibrant food portfolio delivered through a commissary model to 100 locations across the Chicago market.

Embedded in the Starbucks innovation lab, TCE’s interdisciplinary team brought inspiration, insights and directives to guide the development of the final Mercato menu. As an end-to-end partner, TCE was uniquely suited to provide ambitious creative direction through a realistic operator perspective.

salad creation at starbucks by the culinary edge

In 2019 during our latest project, TCE engaged with Starbucks to create a new culinary north star that would bring an evolutionary food perspective to the entire Starbucks system. With the rallying cry of “great coffee deserves great food”, we sought to double food sales by the year 2021 through a reimagining of the core menu identity. Navigating the complexities of their food production and display constraints, a broad customer base and a cross-functional stakeholder group, TCE co-created the role of food and the process of food innovation. To create buy-in and actionable outcomes throughout the organization, we paired the North Star with design principles and innovation tactics, applicable to every facet of the business.

Our Results.

Across three years of partnership, the TCE team became fully immersed in the realities and constraints of the system, paving the way for ambitious, but viable, exploration of the role of food at Starbucks. Since, we’ve seen growth come from all corners of the menu, resulting in the contribution of food to sales increasing from 13% in 2013 to over 20% in 2018. While the role of food continues to be a supporting one, today it is also a far more substantial one - to both the business and the guest experience - an evolution we are proud to have contributed to with menu creative, guest experience design and operational strategies.