What You Don’t Know About Starbucks and Its Food

Starbucks has expanded from the very small Seattle coffee roaster to one of the most omnipresent establishments in the world since its creation in 1971. By 2018, the chain had almost 30,000 positions in countries from Argentina to New Zealand. While it is still best known for its coffee and espresso-based beverages, over the years Starbucks has enhanced its range of products to include teas, specialty drinks, cold-pressed juices and even various food products.

Starbucks’ food can be polarizing. Although many people want to take a packed salad or package for lunch with their morning coffee, some find the consistency of the food they wanted so they don’t have a pleasant word. Even after its deep coffee history and high-quality advertising, Starbucks is, in some ways, fast food as much as a coffee shop. Taking into consideration just how fast the food finds its way to your hands, it may be unrealistic to expect the food options from Starbucks to take your breath away. That said, there are still a lot of mysteries about your food range, which Starbucks would like you not to discover.

All the food arrive frozen

While you buy food from Starbucks, you know almost exactly what you’re going to find. If you order a sandwich breakfast, it is not the one on the display… But it’s just going to look like it. This product uniformity can be expected because everything from the eight-grain rollers to the panini sandwiches is cooked at a distance from the nearest Starbucks till they are frozen. We are sorry to hear some bad news if you assumed that there was a top chef in a small kitchen at the back of every Starbucks place.

And because foodstuffs are so mass-produced, by the time you get it your food will be months old. In 2016, Starbucks treated a Listeria-related warning, selling sandwiches distributed six months later, which expired.

They use merchandising and lighting to trick you into purchasing more

Enticing consumers to complement their coffee order with a $3 pastry assists Starbucks outlets to keep those sales up. In reality, 22 percent of Starbucks’ revenues came from food as of 2017. But how exactly are they encouraging buyers to create this blueberry scone? It’s mostly about psychology.

Starbucks uses different psychological techniques to motivate users to purchase more and be loyal to the brand. Anything, from the über-cozy environment featuring natural building materials to the complete absence of dollar signs on the menu, is purposely put with those two goals in mind.

Some “healthy” goods are not so healthy

Looking at the food choices in the Starbucks instance, you can be tempted to leave the sweeter options, but then choose something better, such as a multi-grain bagel with wholesome oats, barley, flax and sunflower seeds. After all, you really should get a light breakfast that you just bought from the venti Frappuccino, right? However, that doesn’t mean it’s healthier because it seems healthier.

The ‘secret menu’ features an oatmeal latte

The Starbucks “secret menu” includes all sorts of wild meals inspired by candy, famous cereal breakfasts and even mysterious creatures. Yet for the most part, when it comes to these useful tricks people dream of drinks. At least one choice is available on the hidden menu, and this is the best way to start your day: The Oatmeal Latte.

This is how the Oatmeal Latte is ordered:

• Order oatmeal, but instead of water ask for steamed milk. You can inquire about soy, almond, or chocolate milk if you are dairy-free.
• Besides the oatmeal, order an espresso shot (or two if you like it) and dump the barista on the oatmeal.
• If the barista does not add the espresso to your oatmeal, you can order it and add it yourself.
• When you are ready to eat, top the oatmeal with the additional brown sugar and nuts.
• You probably wind up with a delicious, satisfying breakfast that contains a good amount of eye-opening caffeine. It’s a great all-in-one dinner.

​You can get Irish butter for anything

Many people possibly think “What on earth is so remarkable about Irish butter?” It’s just butter after all, right?

Well, Irish butter — Kerrygold Butter in particular — is deemed superior to other products on supermarket shelves due to its ingredients. Kerrygold is made of fresh milk from cows fed with grass. And the grass makes all the difference according to Kerrygold:

​You get a discount if you order two cake pops

Cake pops are fantastic. Firstly, they’re cake. Cake’s always good news always. But cake pops have the additional advantage of the whimsy factor. But with all the sweetness and whimsy that comes with a cake pop, it’s lacking in scale. A single cake pop doesn’t make a satisfactory dessert. What you need are two.

As per Reader’s Digest, when you buy two cake pops combined, there’s a sale. You may not have seen this on the menu board — no Starbucks pro is ever staring at it — but it’s there. You save “anywhere between 40 and 60 cents.” they say. This is confirmed by the Fast Food Menu Prices which lists a single Salted Caramel or Birthday Cake Pop for $1.95 while two Salted or Birthday Cake Pops bring $3.50 back on you… A discount of 40 cents to order two. Depending on the area and sales tax, there can be variations in the final rates so be conscious. But just keep going and treat yourself to two cake pops every time you have a craving for sweets. This is the perfect deal!