(Bloomberg) — Starbucks Corp., which built a loyal following in part by selling sugary candy-colored drinks, has a vision for a healthier menu that’s better suited for the MAHA era.
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It’s testing matcha and cold brew made with coconut water. It’s exploring syrups sweetened with agave instead of sugar. It’s been piloting a protein-infused cold foam and looking into more plant-based products.
The moves are meant to draw in the health and wellness crowd, part of a broader menu overhaul designed to bring more traffic to stores and reverse a stubborn sales slump. On Tuesday, the company reported its sixth straight quarter of same-store sales declines and a steeper-than-expected drop in profits. The menu revamp is one element of a turnaround plan put into place by Chief Executive Officer Brian Niccol that has yet to bear fruit.
“We’ve been working on sugar reduction,” Dana Pellicano, who leads product development at Starbucks, said in an interview.
This week, the Seattle-based chain started testing coconut-water-based beverages at five New York-area stores. The drinks have about a third of the sugar content of a summer-berry lemonade refresher, plus electrolytes. A bigger regional test will soon follow.
As the chain builds out its new menu, sugar is a key area of focus, Pellicano said. The company is exploring syrups made with sweeteners such as agave, dates or coconut and “actively working on” other sugar-free beverages, Pellicano said.
Earlier this year, the chain launched lower-calorie ready-made Frappuccinos and sugar-free canned energy drinks. It also removed sweetener from its matcha powder.
Starbucks is walking a fine line. Its sugar-laden Frappuccinos and refreshers bring much-needed traffic to stores, but the chain also wants to appeal to a growing cohort of health-conscious customers.
US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. put a spotlight on the company when he said that CEO Niccol pledged that Starbucks would “further MAHA” its menu.
The focus on adding healthier options predates the Trump administration, according to Pellicano. The company removed ingredients such as high-fructose corn syrup, as well as artificial dyes and flavors, years ago. It launched the sugar-free matcha in January, before Kennedy was confirmed to his post.
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