What does the Starbucks coffee tasting episode reveal about sampling?

A Starbucks mooncake tasting went viral after a customer received only a thin sliver of black mooncake crust, with no filling at all. Commenters compared the piece to a brake pad, a bicycle pedal or a shoe sole, questioning whether the tiny portion was deliberate.

A person claiming to be a Starbucks employee explained the approach: cut it thinner so people cannot taste the flavor, because customers who eat too much will not buy the product. Older photos of Starbucks tastings show cone-shaped samples that at least included filling.

Recently, a netizen shared on social media their encounter with a mooncake tasting at a Starbucks store, where they were given only a small piece of black mooncake crust—no filling, and hardly a tasting experience to speak of. The comments section quickly erupted, with some joking that it looked like a brake pad or a shoe sole, while others questioned whether such "stinginess" was intentional. Soon after, a netizen claiming to be a Starbucks employee revealed the trick: "Cut it thinner so people can't taste the flavor. If they eat too much, they won't buy it." This article compiles various tasting comparisons shared by netizens, and reviews Starbucks' past tasting marketing and mooncake fake-order controversies, to help you see the tricks behind this small piece of mooncake crust.

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Recently, a netizen posted a photo on social media, saying they encountered a mooncake tasting while drinking coffee at Starbucks. But when they got it, it turned out to be just a tiny piece of black mooncake crust? No wait, what flavor could you possibly taste from this? It felt like you could chew it twice at most and then swallow it.

After seeing the picture, netizens in the comments section couldn't help but voice the question on everyone's mind: Just this little? And it even comes with a paper box? (emmmm)

Faced with this black piece of mooncake crust, many netizens immediately let their imaginations run wild. Some said, "I thought they gave you a piece of brake pad," others said it looked like a bicycle pedal, and still others thought it resembled a shoe sole or insole...

Another netizen commented: "I thought Starbucks gave you one that someone had already bitten."

At this point, a netizen claiming to be a Starbucks employee hit the nail on the head, revealing the "little trick": "Our store says to cut it thinner so people can't taste the flavor. If they eat too much, customers won't buy it, because it really isn't that tasty." A netizen immediately replied: Makes sense!

Searching for keywords like "Starbucks tasting" on social media, you can see the mooncake samples people received. Even if they were also small pieces, at least they were cone-shaped, so you could at least taste the filling, and they didn't look quite so "shabby."

Even with a different cutting method—first cutting along the cross-section, then dividing into eight pieces—this yields twice as many pieces as directly cutting eight pieces, allowing more people to taste, but the shape is still triangular. Compared to the slice the blogger posted, the difference is not just a little. The blogger's piece didn't even have filling, just mooncake crust...

Could it really be, as netizens say, that they cut it so tiny because they're afraid customers will eat too much and not want to buy? You know, Starbucks used to favor the "appeal to emotion" sales tactic, giving out many pastry samples to regular customers every day, making them feel obliged, so they would place orders.

A netizen said that last time they tasted half a piece in the store, and the staff, worried it might be too sweet, even brewed a cup of pour-over coffee to cut the greasiness.

Not long ago, Starbucks was also exposed for making employees buy mooncakes to fake orders. The company quickly responded: There is no rule requiring employees to 'fake orders,' and added: "Any fake orders or falsified consumption records are not allowed. If there are similar situations, you can call the official phone number to complain."

Although Starbucks has never admitted to assigning KPIs to everyone, scrolling through social media, you can always see plenty of complaints, and even "mooncake incentive boards" pop up. Netizens say this isn't an incentive board, it should be called a pressure board. Although the blogger's tasting might be an isolated case, uninformed onlookers might mistakenly think this is the normal tasting portion.

Image source: Internet

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