As Boston thawed into the summer of , The Coffee Connection distributed coupons to advertise their new drink in the Harvard Square store. By , the drink took off and Howell began selling Frappuccinos in his sprinkling of stores throughout Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts.
Howell replaced the granita slushie machines with soft serve ice cream machines to accommodate the demand, but every batch had to be brewed and mixed fresh.
Only this one which saxophonist Kenny G likes to take a little credit for was made with a blender. Starbucks applied the catchy title to its own recipe and, by , sold it nationwide and in Canada. Howell said Starbucks' use of a blender is what gave the company the ability to experiment with different flavors and syrups for everything from mocha to unicorn Frappuccinos.
Using a powerful commercial-grade blender creates a Frappuccino in moments — and makes customers feel that they are getting special service with a custom-made drink, Howell explained. While Howell's focus now is on re-revolutionizing the coffee industry to freeze fresh beans and benefit farmers, George Howell Coffee still sells the drink that brought The Coffee Connection success one summer 26 years ago.
IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Share this —. Even at this stage, Schultz was conflicted about the idea of selling these beverages in the store. A few years earlier, in the lates, Starbucks had been consulting with Pepsi about developing lightly carbonated coffees, in bottles, for wholesale consumption.
He pondered whether or not this product might be better suited to those channels of disruption. In the end, he opted to hear what customers and partners were saying and rolled out the Frappuccino in two flavours, mocha or coffee nationwide in late with the goal of formally introducing the product in April before the summer climate kicked in. This pursuit involved a 5-month retrofit operation of more than individual stores to install blenders and train baristas to make the new drinks.
The next week it was , and the next it was , We had figured it would do well in Southern California but it sold just as well in Chicago, Vancouver B.
It was huge. Schultz later highlighted the fact that he did not let his own ignorance stand in the way of giving customers what they want:. I was wrong, and I was delighted about it. Turning down Frappuccino was the best mistake I never made. In late , Business Week named it one of the best products of the year. And did it dilute the integrity of Starbucks? Frappuccinos not only gave us a welcome alternative for warm-weather months but also provided a way to introduce non—coffee drinkers to Starbucks coffee.
Besides, the more I drank Frappuccinos, the more I liked them. No corporate bureaucracy stood in the way of Frappuccino. It was a totally entrepreneurial project, and it flourished with a Starbucks that was no longer a small company.
Should Starbucks have been bound by the same constraints as a more cumbersome corporation, the product may never have emerged. Avoiding the initial dismissive responses that our own subconscious mind can generate, we should take the time to consider ideas outside the perspective of our own bias purview.
Richard Branson was one of the first entrepreneurs I read about at a young age that sparked my own curiosity into the ways of business and experimentation. Reading his autobiography, losing my virginity, was a critical moment in my own life. As a young man, in my mid-teens, I discovered a whole other world of possibilities outside of the traditional conformity. Whilst not strictly related to the Starbucks case study, I think when offered an opportunity that one is not familiar with how the inputs or outcomes may take shape, we, as humans, as naturally inclined to say no.
We feel most comfortable in our own bubbles. In the end, it proved to be a fruitful endeavour. Should it have failed, then at the very least, they would have learned something new about their customers. I mentioned earlier that Starbucks were in talks with Pepsi in the late 80s and early 90s, attempting to figure out how they can cooperate to distribute Starbucks for wholesale and retail customers outside of the Starbucks stores. After a trip to Tokyo in , Schultz had noticed the success of ready-made, chilled, coffee beverages in Japan.
Schultz reasoned that Starbucks, which specialise in coffee, could create a superior product. For this, they would require a product and a strong global distribution partner. Prior to the creation of the Frappuccino, Starbucks had experimented with Pepsi on a rollout of a carbonated coffee product called Mazagran. It ultimately failed but Pepsi remained patient.
In , after a successful first summer for the newly minted Frappuccino, Starbucks had the perfect candidate for their mass-market bottled coffee expansion. The idea was already established, and the Pepsi team loved the idea of bottling the product. Despite ramping up production as quickly as possible, the partnership only had the capacity to supply the West Coast for the first summer of The only problem facing Starbucks was that they struggled to replenish stock fast enough.
After masses of empty shelves from the excessive demand, and frustrated customers, Starbucks pulled advertising until they ramped up their manufacturing capacity.
However, after supply constraints eased, the bottled Frappuccino was the sole flagship force that allowed Starbucks to penetrate supermarkets and expand into the read made beverage business.
Today, Starbucks customers can enjoy more than 36, different combinations of Frappuccino blended beverages, as well as a host of other cold beverage menu items such as iced lattes, iced cappuccinos, iced teas, seasonal fruit blends, and several iterations of their cold brew product, including the relatively new Nitro Cold Brew, which is infused with nitrogen to give the beverage a smooth and velvety texture. Too many rules will stifle innovation.
So too, will a management team or individual that lacks the ability to welcome new perspectives. Schultz could have easily quashed the Frappuccino project, confirming his own priors about what Starbucks is and what he perceived customers wanted.
Moreover, he could have been equally dismissive of the fact the idea had been tested without his knowledge. For those interested in the history of this great business, Howard Schultz has authored two books that cover his founding period and initial tenure as the CEO of Starbucks, as well as his recount of the period in time when he was lured back to the company to regain their core values after a period of underperformance. New to the newsletter?
Sign up here. Want to learn more? Browse the about page. Commonstock : Investment Talk. It is, she tells me, the main hangout spot. They opt, instead, for Starbucks Refreshers or other iced coffee drinks.
By , Starbucks became the top restaurant brand for teens. Then, there was the season of the unicorn : The pink-and-blue drink, which was available for just four days in April , generated around , Instagram posts during that brief period. It was followed by other toy-store flavors with the Mermaid Frappuccino released in Mexico a few months later, then the Zombie Frapp in October and the Crystal Ball Frapp in March But last June, Starbucks reported a 3 percent decline in Frappuccino sales, leading the company to announce they were stepping away from stunt drinks like mermaid or zombie Frappuccinos by 30 percent.
The [limited time offer] game is getting harder to play. Drinks like the Pink Drink, the one favored by Evelyn Nielsen, are still Instagram-friendly, yet more subtle and a bit healthier. Cold brew beverages have also shifted focus away from Frappuccinos, with Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew and Cold Brew with Cascara Cold Foam — the sorts of iced-coffee drinks Evelyn Nielsen describes her friends ordering — making espresso and sugar feel more sophisticated.
Just last week, leaked documents revealed that a Tie-Dye Frappuccino will launch for a limited time in July. Whether or not the viral moment works, there will always be middle-schoolers wanting something sweet and vaguely adult — and some millennial-aged adults experiencing caramel-flavored nostalgia on a summer afternoon. This may be an indication of the nostalgia cycle collapsing on itself, but we might be a bit sentimental for Frappuccinos.
Michelle Mruk is a NYC based illustrator. Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from.
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