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Starbucks Will No Longer Make Its Olive Oil Infused Coffee, Oleato
October 30, 2024
After a grand U.S. debut in January of this year, Starbucks has decided to discontinue making its Olive Oil-infused coffee. The unique combination of olive oil and coffee wasn’t a hit with consumers.
According to a Bloomberg report, the drinks had mixed reactions online. Additionally, the drinks were reportedly not very popular in some stores, as noted by several managers and baristas.
Oleato products will be permanently removed from the coffee chain’s menu beginning Nov. 7, 2024. That’s the same day Starbucks is releasing its holiday drinks.
Per a memo, Starbucks is “saying goodbye to Starbucks Oleato beverages and toffee nut syrup.” CEO Brian Niccol said that one of his priorities is to simplify the chain’s “overly complex” menu to make baristas’ jobs easier and speed up service.
“Our fourth quarter performance makes it clear that we need to fundamentally change our strategy so we can get back to growth and that’s exactly what we are doing with our ‘Back to Starbucks’ plan,” Niccol explained in the company’s preliminary Q4 earnings report. “I’ve spent my first several weeks in stores engaging with and listening to feedback from our partners and customers.”
He continued, “It’s clear that Starbucks is a much-loved brand. We need to focus on what has always set us apart — a welcoming coffeehouse where people gather and where we serve the finest coffee, handcrafted by our skilled baristas. We are energized and the team is already moving quickly. I’ll share more details at our upcoming earnings call, but invite you to listen to my initial thoughts on our investor relations website.”
Why Were Starbucks’ Oleato Beverages So Different?
Starbucks’ Oleato beverages were infused with olive oil and inspired by a trip to Sicily taken by Howard Schultz, the company’s founder and chairman emeritus. At the time, Schultz was introduced to the Mediterranean custom of taking a spoonful of olive oil daily.
After that, he began enjoying a spoonful of Partanna extra virgin olive oil as part of his daily ritual in addition to his morning coffee. He believed the two would greatly complement one another, and thus, Starbucks Oleato was created.
“I was absolutely stunned at the unique flavor and texture created when the Partanna extra virgin olive oil was infused into Starbucks coffee,” Schultz said. “In both hot and cold coffee beverages, what it produced was an unexpected, velvety, buttery flavor that enhanced the coffee and lingers beautifully on the palate.”
However, The New York Post reported last year that some consumers found the Starbucks combination of flavors tough to digest. The outlet cited a subreddit where baristas and consumers complained that the olive oil contained in the caffeinated drinks wasn’t a great combination, causing intestinal distress. Starbucks has not commented on those particular customer allegations.
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