(Image source: Eater)
BY BRICE SANDER
Starbucks is betting that blondes have more fun. Or, at least customers might like them more. Confused? Here’s WCAU.
“The coffee company, known for its dark roast bean, is unveiling a lighter blend called ‘Starbucks Blonde Roast.’ I’m not sure whether that means the beans will be blonde or not. The coffee company’s long faced criticism from people who think the coffee is either too dark or too bitter.”
TIME clears up exactly what it means to be blonde.
“Different beans and a shorter roasting period give the brew its mild acidity and light-body, creating a roast that Starbucks calls ‘mellow, soft and subtle.’”
But Gawker argues this is a blonde blunder.
“Yes, you'll take your cup of watery weak ‘Starbucks Blonde’ and you'll like it. … And pretty soon you won't even remember what real coffee tastes like. It won't be too long before America's precious tummy can't handle anything harsher than juice from its sippy cup.”
A Sun Break blogger suggests Starbucks is just attempting to appeal to a wider audience.
“What price humility? The packaged coffee category is worth some $5.6 billion, and, as Starbucks has noticed, almost three-quarters of premium coffee sales in the grocery store are for light-to-medium roasts. Enter a seductive blonde.”
But a brand consultant tells the Vancouver Sun that audience won’t want Starbucks.
“…he suspects that ‘the same people who don’t have a taste for that European blend also don’t have a taste for spending more than 99 cents on a cup of coffee.’ And so they may wind up at a gas station anyway.”
Starbucks will roll out its two blonde roasts- Veranda and Willow- in January.
Transcript by Newsy.
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