Do you know how hard Starbucks is trying to sell something other than coffee?

Although it's hard to think of Starbucks as a place to eat on weekdays, it is becoming more and more like a catering company, such as brunch in some stores in the United States. and recently they launched a new lunch menu in more than 100 stores in Chicago.

(picture from: Chicago Tribune)

Starbucks' lunch menu is called "Mercato", which is different from the "weekend brunch" that was tested earlier (including toast, quiche and Belgian waffles). Mercato focuses on ready-to-eat salads, sandwiches and a variety of high-protein and healthy foods such as chicken and lemon sesame sauce salad, steak and mango salad, and smoked sandwiches. The Mercato is affordable, with salads selling for $5-6 and sandwiches for $5-8.

(picture from: Chicago Tribune)

The new lunch menu is a commitment made by Starbucks at an investor conference in December last year, and its senior vice president said "the launch of Mercato means Starbucks has taken the next step in the food business."

The advent of Mercato won't change the stereotype of Starbucks, but it may appeal to customers who want a quick, nutritious lunch, which will undoubtedly boost same-store sales. You know, Starbucks' same-store sales have failed to meet Wall Street expectations for five consecutive quarters, and the 3% growth rate (US regional data) in the first quarter of 2017 was the lowest since 2009.

When it is no longer possible to maintain a sufficient growth rate by relying solely on price increases, Starbucks has to find ways to develop new product lines. In addition to lunch, they have launched a lot of products other than their main business, but few seem to have been successful.

Fruit juice

Evolution Fresh is the company Starbucks bought for $30 million in 2011, following the trend of Fresh Juice. Since 2012, Starbucks has opened independent stores of Evolution Fresh in Seattle, San Francisco and other cities, and the brand's juice has also been sold in Starbucks stores and used in drinks such as Frappuccino.

(picture from: Hive miner)

Some people think that Starbucks' move is to cater to the public's pursuit of healthy food. Although Starbucks denied the claim, Arthur Rudinstein, chairman of its global store development department, said "this is a trend".

However, Starbucks' attempt at non-coffee drinks ended in failure. Evolution Fresh has opened only five stores in the past six years, then closed one after another, and in March, the only two remaining juice bars in Seattle and Washington also announced the closure.

Bread

Just a year after buying Evolution Fresh, Starbucks bought La Boulange, a bread chain, for another $100m.

(picture from: Business Insider)

In terms of revenue alone, it's a pretty good deal. La Boulange brought Croissant and all kinds of desserts to Starbucks, which boosted breakfast sales by 35% and doubled lunch growth.

Nonetheless, La Boulange has suffered a similar fate to Evolution Fresh. In 2015, Starbucks announced that 23 La Boulange stores and two factories would be closed by the end of September that year, citing that "direct stores are not in line with the company's long-term development." But Starbucks still uses La Boulange's recipe to make all kinds of bread.

Teavana tea

Teavana is also in the same boat with the first two brands. When Starbucks bought the company in 2012, Schultz was very optimistic about the potential of the tea market, believing that the global tea market was as large as $90 billion.

(picture from: Inhabitat)

However, just 27 months after the opening of the first Teavana teahouse, Starbucks surrendered: four of its five stores were closed and Teavana drinks were integrated into the cafe business.

Starbucks' explanation for this is that "Teavana can reach more consumers in Starbucks stores," but Americans' lack of tea drinking habits and the diversion of tea bars by Starbucks stores that also sell Teavana may be the real reason for the "short life" of tea bars.

Night wine

In addition to opening independent new brand stores, Starbucks' menus have been innovating. Since 2010, some Starbucks stores have started serving drinks and food at night in order to give customers a reason to come in and spend outside "coffee time."

(picture from: Barstools sports)

Starbucks had high hopes for the project. At the end of 2014, Starbucks announced that it would launch a full-scale evening beverage service, which is expected to generate additional revenue of $1 billion in 2019.

However, the reality has dealt Starbucks a heavy blow. Because of the slow progress of the project due to the difficulty of applying for alcohol licences and the possible lower-than-expected contribution of the beverage service to improving same-store sales, Starbucks abandoned the project at the beginning of the year and retained it only in a small number of franchises and selection stores.

Ice cream

When Starbucks announced the suspension of its night wine service, it said it was to "focus more on the core". As a result, Starbucks, which gave up alcoholic drinks, began to try to combine its own strengths to promote new products.

(picture from: CNBC)

In February 2017, Starbucks sold in-store Affogato and Cold Brew Malt ice creams, the former made with Espresso with ice cream and the latter with cold coffee with vanilla ice cream and chocolate chips.

The ice cream became very popular as soon as it was launched at Roastery (Bakery) in Seattle. Starbucks, which tasted the sweetness, began to promote its new products to selection stores and ordinary stores.

Ice cream is much more profitable than regular coffee. A cup of expresso costs $1.75, but with just a scoop of ice cream, it soars to $6; a large cup of cold coffee costs $3.45, while Malt sells for $8.50 more than twice as much.

The "sideline" is to serve the main business.

Ice cream, bread, dinner. Starbucks seems to be "unprofessional", but in fact, the food sector is becoming the main direction of Starbucks.

(picture from: Favim)

At a recent shareholder meeting, Starbucks revealed that its food business has grown 1.5-fold since 2013 and plans to double it by 2021.

Whether it's juice, evening wine, brunch or even a special lunch, Starbucks is trying to woo customers who don't want or can't drink coffee, who may be able to save its same-store sales growth.

The picture is from: Inhabitots