Getting the kids hooked on Starbucks

[homeschoolmom]

Getting the kids hooked on Starbucks

Janet Adamy
Wall Street Journal
Jun. 27, 2006 10:16 AM


To help launch a line of sweet, creamy banana Frappuccinos last month, Starbucks Corp. sponsored a family-oriented community event - a free day at the Phoenix Zoo.

For adults, there were samples of espresso-infused Banana Coconut Frappuccino. But the coffee retailer also set out samples that the kids flocked to: tiny cups of Bananas & Creme Frappuccinos made with banana puree and whipped cream, no coffee.

What made the promotion surprising is that Starbucks, the Seattle-based coffee retailer with more than 11,000 stores, has a longstanding policy of avoiding marketing to kids. The company says it isn't aiming its new noncoffee Frappuccinos at children. But the promotion shows the challenge Starbucks faces in capitalizing on its growing popularity among families without breaking its pledge. As Starbucks launches more drinks that could appeal to kids, it's also raising concerns about the nutritional value of items on its menu, as well as the high prices.

Food makers have become increasingly cautious about marketing to kids amid growing concern about childhood obesity. Kraft Foods Inc. last year started limiting its marketing to kids under 12 and in May soda companies agreed to halt sales of sugared sodas in schools. Starbucks, for its part, says it hasn't changed its position on marketing toward youth.

The coffee chain's written policy says its "overall marketing, advertising and event sponsorship efforts are not directed at children or youth," although some "community activities" end up reaching kids. The company reviews marketing materials to avoid distributing ones that could be "inadvertently appealing to youth," the policy says.

But as Starbucks expands, it is attracting new demographics, from teens who hang out after school to young mothers chilling out with their toddlers. So the chain is adding more products that appeal to them. Last month Starbucks said it had signed an exclusive deal to sell audio versions of the books "The Velveteen Rabbit" and "The Night Before Christmas" read by actress Meryl Streep. Earlier this year, Starbucks started selling DVDs of children's music performer Laurie Berkner.

"Starbucks itself is a gathering place," says Brad Stevens, Starbucks vice president of U.S. marketing. "You can often go in and see a whole family."

Starbucks started selling Frappuccinos in 1995 after one of its Southern California stores whipped up the drink while experimenting with a cold coffee beverage. Since then the Frappuccino has become one of the chain's most popular drinks and has evolved to include noncoffee varieties like Strawberries & Creme and Double Chocolate Chip. The coffee chain is now adding more noncoffee flavors. Tuesday, it plans to roll out a new line of pomegranate and tangerine juice Frappuccinos.

Plenty of adults drink Frappuccinos. But the sweetness of the drinks, and the fact that they borrow characteristics from the milkshake and 7-Eleven's Slurpee, make them particularly appealing to children. Nutrition experts have criticized coffee chains for using sweetened coffee drinks as so-called starter beverages that get children hooked on caffeine. The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a food-industry watchdog, recently complained that Frappuccinos are among the most fat- and calorie-packed items on the Starbucks menu. A 16 oz. grande-size Bananas & Creme has 550 calories and 15 grams of fat. By comparison, the same size chocolate shake at McDonald's has 580 calories and 14 grams of fat.

"A child, if it's a snack, does not need this number of calories," says Barbara Rolls, a professor of nutritional sciences at Pennsylvania State University in State College, Pa., who is studying food-intake regulation in children.

Starbucks says that it offers lighter versions of many Frappuccinos and that the new juice line contains no fat and fewer calories than its traditional Frappuccinos. Some have caffeine because they contain tea, but they can be ordered without caffeine. The company says that for further information on caffeine, it refers customers to medical experts because that's not Starbucks' area of expertise.

Some parents who bring kids to Starbucks note that the drinks that appeal to young people are often the most costly - a reversal of restaurant menus where kids' food is priced lower. However, Michelle Gass, Starbucks' senior vice president of category management, says parents on the whole don't seem deterred by the drink prices. The smallest size of Frappuccino sells for $3.20 to $3.70, depending on the city, and the largest sells for $4.15 to $4.90.

"It's an expensive treat," says Henry Kleeman, a Lake Forest, Ill., resident who recently took his 12-year-old daughter, Andrea, for a Frappuccino. Because Andrea likes hanging out at Starbucks with her friends, her grandparents gave her a Starbucks card loaded with money she can use to buy drinks. Mr. Kleeman says he isn't concerned about the high fat and calorie content of the drinks for his daughter. "There's a lot of things I worry about more," he says.

The influx of young people in the stores also threatens to upset customers who rely on Starbucks for a quiet place to work, read or relax. Neighborhood Starbucks outlets attract so many middle- and high-school students that "on weekend nights it's almost like a bar for teenagers," says analyst Sharon Zackfia, who follows the coffee chain for investment bank and equity-research firm William Blair & Co. in Chicago.

Melissa Schwartz, a 38-year-old nursing student from Deerfield, Ill., complained to the manager of a Chicago Starbucks in March when about 40 teenagers flooded the store while she was trying to study for midterm exams. "They were over-the-top obnoxious," says Schwartz. Some of them sat on the floor near her. "They just crawl all over you," she says. The store manager asked the teenagers to quiet down and gave Ms. Schwartz drink coupons.

But the manager also told her there wasn't much he could do because the kids are customers too, Ms. Schwartz recalls. Now she peeks inside the Starbucks to make sure there aren't too many teenagers and, if there are, crosses the street to a quieter tea shop.

Some coffee chains say nutritional and other concerns shouldn't stop them from trying to attract young customers. "Better they should get hooked on an ice-blended beverage than maybe something else," says Michael Coles, president and chief executive of Caribou Coffee Co., a Minneapolis-based coffee chain with 410 stores. Parents have thanked him for giving their kids a place to do homework, he says.

Caribou has added a line of noncoffee ice-blended drinks called Snowdrifts in flavors like Oreo and Mint to appeal to children, Coles says. Caribou stocks about one-third of its locations with stuffed animals, trucks and other toys to attract families. "Hopefully these kids will grow up in Caribou and think of it as their place," Mr. Coles says.



[url="http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/0627wsj-starbucks-kids27-ON.html"]http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles...-kids27-ON.html[/url]

[homeschoolmom]

I found this article interesting because a friend of mine (who works at Starbucks) is deliberately drawing her children (ages 6, 8 and 10) into the Starbucks culture....

[philothea]

I like Starbucks (and coffee shops in general) too much to be able to tell if appealing to kids is a good or bad thing.

Thinking about it, I don't generally see loads of fat people in the Starbucks, unlike the McDonalds. I don't know what the problem is, really... they'll turn into coffee-snob yuppies? What should they do -- hang out at the arcade?

[Guest Rick777]

[quote name='philothea' post='1013504' date='Jun 27 2006, 07:49 PM']
I like Starbucks (and coffee shops in general) too much to be able to tell if appealing to kids is a good or bad thing.

Thinking about it, I don't generally see loads of fat people in the Starbucks, unlike the McDonalds. I don't know what the problem is, really... they'll turn into coffee-snob yuppies? What should they do -- hang out at the arcade?
[/quote]

This is kinda what I was thinking. Anyways...isnt coffee supposed to be good for you now?

[Christie_M]

[color="blue"] well, the most I've ever had from Starbucks is the caffeine free stuff. I love the smell of coffee!! [/color]

[homeschoolmom]

Okay, but the drinks marketed to kids have 15 grams of fat and over 500 calories... and in the case of my friend and her kids-- they definately don't need that many calories for a snack.
And frankly, I do think that it's not great to turn little kids into snobs of any kind.

Edited June 28, 2006 by homeschoolmom

[avemaria40]

I love Starbucks! but it is an expensive habit and I don't think kids need that much sugar in a snack. And HSmom is right, turning kids into snobs is never a good thing.

[missionseeker]

We're doomed anyway, so what the heck?



The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or the Americans.

On the other hand, the French eat a lot of fat and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or the Americans.

The Japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or the Americans.

The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or the Americans.

Conclusion: Eat and drink whatever you like. It's speaking English that kills you.

[homeschoolmom]

It's not just the fat. At nearly $4-5 each, it does promote a snobbiness... I could feed one of my kids a whole meal at a sit down restaurant for that...

[Sojourner]

They had a Starbucks event here last week promoting the new frappacino.

I guess if you're going for longevity in customers, best to start hooking 'em young. It's always easier to sell to addicts.

[philothea]

Knowing the area, I found it quite hilarious that they got someone from Lake Forest to complain about Starbucks being expensive.... (Avg house there is over a million, with about $20k annual property tax. )

In general I don't think parents should get kids "hooked" into any corporate-promoted lifestyle, be it Starbucks, McDonalds, or Disney... but I don't see that Starbucks shouldn't be allowed to market to kids. At least they don't use transfats! :

[Tindomiel]

I feel so out of the loop, because I've never entered a Starbucks. So I couldn't fairly voice my opinion on the matter. Of course, I could have made something up...

[DannyBoy]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' post='1013673' date='Jun 28 2006, 06:12 AM']
Okay, but the drinks marketed to kids have 15 grams of fat and over 500 calories... and in the case of my friend and her kids-- they definately don't need that many calories for a snack.
And frankly, I do think that it's not great to turn little kids into snobs of any kind.
[/quote]

homeschoolmom, you aren't stereotyping are you? I'm not a snob and I love Starbucks. And as for the calories, drinks can be made with fat free milk and other additives rather than the suggested ones that are offered at the counter. It would be the parent's job to educate their children as to what is appropriate and not. What an opportunity to present children with: allowing them one more chance to take ownership in what they eat and why they eat it.

The coffeeshop culture is important to many people. In George Weigel's book "Letters to a Young Catholic" he writes of G. K. Chesterton and the Old Cheshire coagulated milk, a pub where many of England's literary giants have congregated throughout history to discuss their affairs. Products of life at the coagulated milk were the great minds of such esteemed Catholics as Belloc, and Chesterton.

While not a pub in any sense of the word, coffeeshops, provide many people with the opportunity to discuss life, limb, and the pursuit of all things Christ. Some of the greatest discussions my spiritual director and I have had occurred in the Starbucks Waterfront in Pittsburgh, PA or Caribou Coffee in the South Side of PGH. Should I have a chance to aquaint my children to an environment that has seen their father grow in the faith in ways that rival the confessional, I will take advantage. And, if we are made to be snobs for it...I say only that Christ too was scorned! :

(Post modified due to spelling errors)

Edited June 28, 2006 by DannyBoy

[homeschoolmom]

10 year olds should hang out in the park, not coffee shops.

[DannyBoy]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' post='1013952' date='Jun 28 2006, 02:19 PM']
10 year olds should hang out in the park, not coffee shops.
[/quote]

Ma'am, often the safer places in the city are the coffee shops.