Starbucks offers a dash of olive oil with its coffee in Italy

By: Trademagazin editor Date: 2023. 02. 28. 09:26

Starbucks has launched a new drink that mixes coffee with olive oil, offering it initially in Italy as an alternative to the more standard espresso or cappuccino.

The so-called “Oleato” beverages are made with arabica coffee “infused with a spoonful of Partanna cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil,” Starbucks, the world’s largest coffee chain, said in a statement.

The price is between 4.5 euros and 6.5 euros ($4.80-$6.90) depending on the size of the cup.

Young drinkers at Starbucks flagship coffee shop in central Milan gave the initiative a qualified approval.

Company founder Howard Schultz, who has said a trip to Milan in 1983 inspired him to export Italian drinking habits to the United States, described Oleato as “the next revolution in coffee.”

The “Oleato” debuted in various forms, including caffe latte, a “deconstructed” option featuring lemon juice, and an “Espresso Martini” with vodka and vanilla bean syrup.

The beverages will later be rolled out “in select markets around the world”, starting with southern California in the United States in the spring and later this year in Japan, the Middle East and Britain, Starbucks said.

Reuters