Starbucks bubbling up new soda offerings
Jun 23, 2014, 6:49 PM | Updated: 6:57 pm
Starbucks is getting a lot more bubbly this week.
The coffee company on Tuesday adds high-end sodas to its offerings with the launch of three flavors of Fizzio Handcrafted Sodas.
Baristas will be whipping up Spiced Root Beer, Golden Ginger Ale and Lemon Ale on a newfangled machine called the Fizzio, which the company says maximizes flavor by carbonating finished beverages to ensure all of the ingredients get the same level of carbonation and flavor.
The drinks contain no artificial flavors, preservatives or high fructose corn syrup, and have 100 calories or less in a 16 oz. “Grande”.
“Fizzio Handcrafted Soda is unlike any soda in the marketplace because it’s handcrafted and made-to-order each time,” says Cliff Burrows, Starbucks group president.
They might be really good, but they’re not cheap. Pricing starts at $2.45 for a “tall”.
Starbucks has been testing the sodas in Austin and Atlanta for the past year. It’ll now expand them to about 3,000 stores across the southern states from California to Florida in a moved aimed at expanding its traffic in the afternoons and evenings. There’s no word when or if the drinks will be offered in the Seattle-area.
It’s a gamble, but the prize is a big one. The company is seeking to get its foot in the door of the $400 millon global carbonated beverage business, USA Today says.
