Starbucks, can you still sell coffee?

The restless Starbucks is selling new gadgets again, but everyone is getting used to it.

Coffee chain giant foodie has launched three smoothies with Greek yogurt and cold-pressed juices: strawberries, mango-carrots and vegetarians' favorite sweet vegetable smoothies, foreign media foodie reported. Yogurt is bought from Dannon, cold-pressed juice is supplied by Evolution Fresh, and the new product will soon be on sale in San Jose, California, St. Louis and Starbucks in Missouri.

It is reported that Starbucks will launch a series of sand ice products all over the world, which may have to wait until next year.

Remember when Starbucks had only the smell of cappuccino in the store? it smells a lot more complicated now.

Managershare+ point of view: the global chain that aspires to be the most professional coffee company has been hovering between pure and hodgepodge. After founder Howard Schultz had to return to the company to recover seven years after leaving Starbucks, he once cut down breakfast sandwiches that "bring bad smell to the coffee shop", because the "smell" of cheddar cheese completely overshadowed the fragrance of coffee. Howard Schultz really hated it. But now Starbucks is full of more and more products that have nothing to do with coffee, including the Starbucks Frappuccino series that rejuvenate Starbucks, and more strange drinks that have nothing to do with coffee.

This store has a long history-maybe it's too long to miss.

To be sure, three cups of smoothies are not enough to bring down Starbucks. But the company sells $5-a-cup coffee on the streets of the United States, from airport terminals to convenience chains, and now Starbucks may be heading for dangerous waters.

Although Starbucks executives don't seem worried.

At its annual meeting in March, its CEO, Howard Schultz, shocked Wall Street by promising to double the market capitalization of Starbucks to $10 billion. Now that the business is booming and profits are growing year by year, who dares to question him?

There is only one problem: product overload

Starbucks makes a fortune selling coffee, but what if it sells smoothies, grilled sandwiches, tea, custom soda, beer and spirits, and tapas-like pre-dinner snacks in the evening?

Well, lattes, cappuccinos, iced matcha, macchiato, and a series of countless seasonal drinks are really dazzling, but Starbucks has realized that coffee is coffee, and we want to sell something else!

Starbucks executives also admit that the biggest potential profit growth lies in the variety of food (or grilled cheese sandwiches once cut by Howard, hehe) that attracts a variety of customers during non-coffee hours (midnight snacks, beer, bacon).

But after Starbucks lost the debut of its La Boulange pastry line, it can be seen that they don't actually make money selling everything.

Indeed, consumer protests have forced Starbucks to add some of its best-selling breads and cakes back to the menu, and pure coffee culture may have become a cover. According to Business Insider12's monthly report, customers asked the store to provide hot cakes, which caused dissatisfaction among shop assistants; baristas complained that the new system kept them making mistakes in orders and made it difficult to communicate with customers.

"part of the old relationship between clerks and customers seems to have disappeared," lamented one barista. "now we have to do things with speed and a lot of special requirements."

Starbucks and McDonald's converge rapidly

Starbucks may be proud to find itself on a par with McDonald's: the two-tailed mermaid (logo) is as ubiquitous as uncle McDonald's, and its corporate values are environmentally friendly and employee quality. However, how many people realize that Starbucks, which used to focus on high-end brand image, is becoming mediocre in terms of cultural identity, just like McDonald's. In terms of market dominance, Starbucks will continue to learn from McDonald's.

No company can meet all the needs of everyone, Ted Cooper wrote in The Motley Fool. He's talking about Starbucks, but it also applies to McDonald's, because McDonald's is constantly pushing new products, from three or two to all kinds of rolls, so fast that it's like fighting with franchisees and customers.

Between 2007 and 2013, McDonald's menus grew by 70%, with up to 145 products. The fast food giant is also trying to lose weight, but according to some grumpy shopkeepers, there is not enough to delete.

A McDonald's franchisee complained in the survey that both the clerk and the customer thought that the service was seriously slowed down because the menu was unusually long.

A former franchisee who has now switched to consulting said: McDonald's business philosophy is simple and fast, but its kitchen is no longer simple and fast. The ever-growing menu is one of the reasons why McDonald's local sales are stagnant.

Well, the next time you want a soy latte, and the person in front of you happens to order a roast turkey sauce sandwich and hot wheat and spinach, with a cup of sweet vegetable smoothies on the side, you should think twice.