Starbucks Chief Executive Brian Niccol was famously disciplined when it came to new menu items at his previous employer, Chipotle. That was dictated partly by the Mexican chain’s limited number of spots in its make line.
You can’t bring a new item onto the Chipotle menu without taking an old one off. That also had benefits when it came to training staff.
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Since the chain’s items are all cooked on its grills and built on its make lines, keeping a core lineup intact adds to efficiency. Workers don’t need to regularly learn new items.
A tight menu also makes adding something new special for customers.
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At Starbucks, however, the current menu had become quite bloated. That slowed service, added to training costs, and contributed to an overall poorer experience for customers.
Niccol has promised changes, and the popular Snackolator Instagram page has shared a video laying out the items that will be removed.
Many Starbucks menu items are not permanent, but the permanent menu has become very large.
Starbucks
Starbucks making major menu cuts
“Starbucks is streamlining their menu and they’re discontinuing thirteen drinks next week to start the process,” Snackolator posted.
The changes will go into effect March 14 as part of a broader effort to streamline the menu.
“The first drink on the chopping block is the iced matcha lemonade, and the Espresso Frappuccino is going into a very long hibernation,” the site reported.
Snackolator also said the Cafe Vanilla Frappuccino, a cream-based drink that does not contain coffee, will be removed as will the Java Chip Frappuccino,
The Frappuccino line is being hit especially hard.
“And the services of the chai cream frappuccino are no longer needed. The caramel ribbon crunch cream frappuccino is leaving this world way too soon, and the double chocolate chip cream frappuccino is just too much chocolate chip goodness for this world,” Snackolator added.
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The site also expressed sadness about two other items in the frozen-drink line that will be going away.
“The Chocolate Cookie Crumble Cream Frappuccino is a work of art, just look at that, and Starbucks is taking it from us. The White Chocolate Cream Frappuccino is going to a better place, and they even cut the White Hot Chocolate,” it said.
Other cuts include the Royal English Breakfast Latte and the Honey Almond Milk Flat White.
Starbucks CEO explains the menu cuts
Niccol talked about the cuts during the chain’s firscal-first-quarter-earnings call.
“We’ve been focused on simplifying our menu to position partners for success, improve consistency, drive customer satisfaction, and enhance our economics,” he said.
“As part of this work, we made some late simplifications to our holiday product lineup and believe we have more opportunities ahead as we follow a disciplined stage-gate process to innovate and bring to market fewer better beverage and food offerings that reflect our premium positioning.”
The CEO also outlined some broad targets, which suggest that these cuts are just the beginning.
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“In the coming months, you’ll see us begin to optimize our menu offerings, resulting in a roughly 30% reduction in both beverages and food [stock-keeping units] by the end of fiscal year 2025,” he added. (SKUs are individual items in inventory for sale.)
That does not mean, however, that the chain won’t add items as well.
“As we do, we’ll work to lead this market with breakthrough beverage and food innovation,” Niccol said. “We’ll do this by being responsive to customer trends and their changing preferences.
“We’ll rely on our highly engaged Green Apron partners for inspiration, like we did with our Lavender lineup last year, and will be more responsive and tuned into cultural moments like we did with the Dubai Matcha.”
Related: Another popular fast-food chain closing more stores
