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Italians have long been known for their love of coffee and olive oil. Starbucks is now hoping to attract more of them to its stores by combining the two — a move that’s already polarizing potential customers.
Starbucks announced Tuesday that it is offering a new line of coffee in Italian stores made with extra virgin olive oil from Sicily, which the unexpected alchemy calls “oleato” — after the Italian word for oil.
The world’s largest coffee chain, like other American restaurant groups, is struggling to gain a foothold in the Italian market. Opening its first Italian coffee store in 2017, Starbucks said it entered the Italian market with “humility and respect” and has since cautiously expanded to 25 stores across northern Italy.
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said he came up with the idea of adding olive oil to coffee after experimentally mixing a spoonful of the green-and-gold liquid with his own morning brew during a stay in Sicily. “I was absolutely amazed by the unique taste and texture,” he said in a press release. who heralded the new olive oil range as a “transformative innovation” for coffee drinkers.
Starbucks baristas mix the oil with oat milk, either by steaming or shaking, before pouring the resulting mixture into a shot (or two) of espresso or cold brew to create a flavor that menu developers describe as “caramel-like.” ”
Many on social media expressed skepticism about the brew. “Olive oil coffee! I’ve never seen an Italian drink their espresso with olive oil. Happen,” answered one.
Another called the idea one “Cruelty.” One person responded to the message with an emoji for a confused face.
The coffee will debut in Italy before launching internationally later this year in Starbucks stores in Southern California and elsewhere, the company said.
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Dubbed “Buttery,” Starbucks’ range includes three olive oil-infused variations of popular hot and cold coffee beverages; Latte macchiato, iced espresso and cold brews. Customers who opt for the oil-infused cold brew will “taste a silky infusion of Partanna extra virgin olive oil with vanilla sweetcream foam that slowly flows through the beverage to create a smooth but rich texture,” Starbucks promised the menu in an accompanying description.
The new range will use oil pressed from a variety of Sicilian olives known as Castelvetrano – described by Starbucks as sweet and reminiscent of some of its syrup options. “I’m thinking about all the butterscotches that we mix with our coffee,” Amy Dilger, a beverage developer at Starbucks, said in a press release about the new flavor.
It’s not the first time the beverage giant has included oil in its coffee drinks — although it may be the first time it’s so prominently promoted as an ingredient in marketing campaigns. For example, oat milk, which is often used as a non-dairy alternative in coffee, already contains vegetable oil — and some Starbucks menus list sunflower oil as an ingredient in their non-dairy options.
Italian coffee drinkers are known for their traditional preferences: sipping cappuccinos before noon and preferring a quicker espresso later in the day, often sipped while standing at a bar – which prompted Starbucks to revamp its standard offering for the local market. The coffee giant has even designed its Italian stores to offer a bar for customers to stand at – true to Italian tradition – and developed a bean blend specifically tailored to the tastes of Italian coffee drinkers.
American grocery chains are notoriously difficult to break into the crowded Italian food and beverage market, where consumers seem content with what’s already out there on local menus. 2022, Pizza giant Dominos announced the closure of its Italian franchise stores after poor sales. “Italians don’t like pineapple pizza,” ran the headline in an Italian daily.