Reggae music set the scene for the morning rush at Starbucks on I5 in California. We were in the Grapevine, the start of the Central Valley, otherwise known as a long span of farmland with very few cafes…other than the Mc variety.
It was early and a couple of moms had more than a couple of kids who quickly began begging for treats as they neared the Starbucks counter. I have to admit, for the first time ever, Starbucks’ food selection tempted me, both the fresh savory sandwiches and the packaged grab-and-go sandwiches
One mom asked her kids: “Do you want protein or cheese and grapes?” I wondered what that “protein” was, but fascinated someone would buy “protein” without knowing.
The kids, aged 2-10, made a beeline for the sweets. A cake pop, pleeeease?
“No!”
How about coffee cake, pleeeeease?
No.
“Half a piece of coffee cake?”
One of the little girls got her way — ending up with a pink cake pop. Another had a croissant. “It’s funny they know just what they want,” one of the moms said.
A bag of organic Torie & Howard fruit chews got dispensed across the table to other kids. “It’s a better version of Starburst,” the mom shrugged.
Something I’ve noticed at every coffee place, and especially at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf — a chain that dominates the Los Angeles scene — people with nut allergies are still pretty limited when it comes to non-sweet, non-carb-heavy snacks.
So what’s the big deal?
A few days earlier in Los Angeles, I chatted with a guy who was buying a grape-n-cheese snack at Starbucks. Did he buy it daily? No, but a few times a week. How was it? OK.
The snacking on the go trend has no signs of waning.
When we aren’t snacking, we’re looking for easy ways to eat quickly.
Despite all the recipes, the meal kits, the food trucks and restaurants, people are eating full meals less and less, as this infographic from Hartman Group illustrates.
Starbucks’ food selection keeps growing and changing, which is a nice opp for food brands to get discovered at the Natural Products Expo or Fancy Food Shows — and an interesting indicator for anyone running a cafe or considering buying SBUX stock. More and better food = higher sales and hopefully profits!
