Will a 259ml mini cup reshape the china coffee industry?

Starbucks is expected to launch a 259ml mini super-concentrated series in China on October 17, covering four drinks: Cortado, Red Velvet Cortado, Coconut Flat White and Cocoa Chino. The news revived an old joke about Starbucks cup sizes and pushed latte art at its stores back into discussion, since customers say they rarely see patterns in their cups.

Starbucks had already offered a 133ml Cortado, but only for dine-in at Reserve stores, and small sizes have long existed in overseas markets. Whether the new size improves the latte art experience depends on store production logic. Former employees have explained why chain outlets skip free-pour designs, a detail the china coffee industry is watching.

Is Starbucks coming out with a small cup size? Recently, netizens have revealed that Starbucks is expected to launch a 259ml mini super-concentrated series on October 17, covering four beverages: Cortado, Red Velvet Cortado, Coconut Flat White, and Cocoa Chino. As soon as the news broke, many netizens immediately thought of Luo Yonghao's classic bit about Starbucks cup sizes and joked, "Quick, call Mr. Luo." At the same time, the topic of latte art at Starbucks stores has once again been pushed into the spotlight. Some consumers complain that after drinking Starbucks for years, they have never seen latte art, while former employees have come forward to explain the reasons. Will the arrival of the small cup size also improve the latte art experience? What kind of production logic at chain coffee brands does this reflect? This article will sort it out for you one by one.

When it comes to coffee, many people's first thought is that it is a drink for office workers to wake up and keep going. But things are different now. When people walk into a cafe, it is not just to get a good-tasting drink. More and more people are beginning to notice the exquisite latte art patterns on the surface of the coffee, treating a cup of coffee as a kind of "artwork" to be appreciated, and drinking coffee has become an aesthetic experience on the tip of the tongue.

Yesterday, a netizen posted on social media revealing that Starbucks plans to launch a 259ml mini super-concentrated series on October 17, including four products: Cortado, Red Velvet Cortado, Coconut Flat White, and Cocoa Chino.

Seeing this news, some people immediately recalled Luo Yonghao's classic bit about "medium cup, large cup, extra-large cup" and left comments saying, "Quick, call Mr. Luo. Starbucks finally has a small cup!" This meme comes from a scene in Luo Yonghao's early micro-film — "Mr. Luo no longer has to slap himself when ordering."

In fact, Starbucks had previously launched a 133ml small cup Cortado, but it was only available for dine-in at Reserve stores. In addition, Starbucks has long offered a small cup size option in overseas markets. This time, launching a new series in China and introducing the concept of an available small cup size into the local market can be seen as a reasonable attempt.

In the comments section, some netizens expressed another expectation: "I hope there really can be latte art. I've been drinking Starbucks for years and have never seen latte art." This netizen also specifically explained that they were not only referring to Reserve stores, but hoped that ordinary Starbucks stores could also provide latte art for customers to enjoy.

In response, a partner who once worked at Starbucks said that when customer traffic was low, they were actually happy to make latte art, but because the store was located in an office building area, many customers were in a hurry to get back to work, so the latte art could only be finished hastily with a shallow design.

In fact, this is not the first time Starbucks has been complained about by consumers online over latte art. Some netizens have complained: "I stopped by and ordered a hot latte. When I opened the lid, even the latte at a Reserve store wasn't given latte art?" Others said: "I specifically used a store mug because I wanted a beautiful latte art, but the staff directly told me they don't know how to make latte art..."

As a major global coffee chain brand, Starbucks is often asked by consumers in China: why doesn't it make latte art? There are several reasons behind this. First, it is related to the fast-paced production in stores. Compared with other coffee shops, Starbucks is often busier and has higher order volume. Second, although the company values coffee quality, it does not require partners to master latte art skills. Third, the latte art tools equipped in most Starbucks stores are relatively difficult to operate.

According to partners, after the new products are officially launched, each store will be equipped with a small milk pitcher, about half the capacity of the original large milk pitcher. In this way, Starbucks partners will find it easier to present beautiful latte art patterns for customers.

Many Starbucks partners active online have left comments: "This is forcing us to make latte art. Good thing I know how," "I'm clumsy and unskilled, I really can't make latte art well," "Great news for me since I don't know how to make latte art"... For a while, it seemed as if Starbucks had finally remembered one of the essential barista skills — latte art.

Actually, compared with latte art, what deserves more attention is the quality of the coffee itself — whether the milk and coffee are properly matched, whether the milk foam is frothed densely, and whether the integration is even. As long as these steps are up to standard, the taste of this milk coffee will not be far off. As for the visual effect brought by latte art, the various patterns ultimately only affect the photo-taking and viewing stage.

In the final analysis, whether customers are willing to walk into a coffee shop and spend money is determined by the taste of the product, value for money, environment, and service. As part of the food and beverage service industry, coffee shops should put the customer's consumption experience first, and only then can they achieve long-term development.

Image source: Internet

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.