What Is Starbucks Coffee Doing Differently with Packaging?

During the Chinese New Year of the Dragon, Starbucks released three limited-edition Year of the Dragon cup sleeves, a break from its long-standing brown paper bag and green logo. The move drew wide discussion online and was read as a new localization attempt in the Chinese market. Chain rivals like Luckin normally pair collaborations with cup sleeves, stickers, and paper bags, while Starbucks had largely stayed out of that pattern.

The company is expanding stores into lower-tier cities in China while declining to join price wars, so limited-edition packaging offers another way to draw attention. For china and coffee watchers, the question is whether themed sleeves and similar items can win over more consumers without discounting. The Dragon sleeves mark a shift in co-branded packaging strategy, though the brand has not committed to making such releases routine.

Limited-edition cup sleeves, stickers, and paper bags are usually standard fare for chain coffee brand collaborations, while Starbucks has long stuck with its classic brown paper bag and green logo, which consumers joke is "unchanged for ten years like one day." Yet during the Chinese New Year of the Dragon, Starbucks unexpectedly rolled out three limited-edition Year of the Dragon cup sleeves, sparking widespread discussion. This move was jokingly dubbed by netizens as "a decision that betrays the ancestors," and is also seen as a new attempt by Starbucks at localizing in the Chinese market. Against the backdrop of accelerating store expansion into lower-tier markets while refusing to engage in price wars, can Starbucks win over more consumers through limited-edition packaging? This article takes you through it.

▲

Click to follow | Daily specialty coffee culture magazine Coffee Works

Whenever major chain coffee brands hold collaboration events, besides releasing limited-edition merchandise, they usually also roll out a specially designed "three-piece set" during the promotion. Take Luckin for example: when collaborating with popular IPs, you can basically always see the trio of a limited-edition cup sleeve, stickers, and a paper bag. Even for themes like the Australian Open that aren't well suited to stickers, the collaboration cup sleeves and paper bags still get arranged all the same.

For chain coffee brands, the collaboration "three-piece set" costs little to produce, is simple to execute, and consumers are happy to buy in, so it is regarded as the standard configuration for collaboration events. Over time, this has also shaped a fixed perception among consumers—the collaboration "three-piece set" is the minimum threshold for a brand doing a collaboration.

Precisely because of this widespread perception, Starbucks, as a special presence among chain coffee brands, often draws complaints from consumers. Starbucks itself isn't too keen on joining the involution of chain brand collaborations, and when it occasionally holds an event, it only puts limited-edition merchandise on shelves. Some netizens have grumbled that if you don't follow Starbucks' official account, you simply have no idea when it has done a collaboration.

The "unchanged for ten years like one day" brown paper bag and green logo can certainly reinforce brand recognition, but from the outside perspective, this is not favorable for promoting collaboration events. For example, in the collaboration between Starbucks and "Havoc in Heaven" earlier this year, netizens' expectations were maxed out, yet after the event launched they couldn't help complaining that "there isn't even a collaboration cup sleeve," which netizens considered an ineffective collaboration.

But recently, Starbucks, which took advantage of the Chinese New Year boom to launch Year of the Dragon limited-edition drinks, made a move that astonished netizens—three specially designed Year of the Dragon limited-edition cup sleeves appeared simultaneously in stores. Long-time Starbucks consumers, upon seeing the new cup sleeves, exclaimed one after another: "Starbucks has made a decision that betrays the ancestors," "Starbucks has opened up a bit late," "Finally taking this step, otherwise who knows what I've been drinking."

Previously, Starbucks announced its first-quarter 2024 financial report. Wang Jingying, chairman and CEO of Starbucks China, revealed that in 2024 Starbucks will accelerate store expansion into lower-tier markets, competing with other coffee brands in lower-tier cities, but at the same time made clear that Starbucks will not participate in the price war among coffee brands.

Wanting a share of the lower-tier market while unwilling to give up high profits and join the ranks of low-price coffee, what Starbucks can do is make the brand fit the Chinese market better and launch more products consumers like. This limited-edition Year of the Dragon cup sleeve may well be a trial run for the brand's localization.

However, these three limited-edition Year of the Dragon cup sleeves received mixed reviews among consumers. Some netizens found them very novel, with bright, good-looking colors and decent craftsmanship, and their symbolism full of good wishes for the future; but other netizens thought Starbucks' design was not up to par, saying the dragon on the cup sleeve had a bit of a Japanese yokai illustration flavor, unlike traditional Chinese dragon patterns, "giving off a sense of a Western evil dragon."

Thinking about how the usually aloof Starbucks changed its approach and joined the involution of collaboration limited-edition packaging, netizens chose to forgive this not-so-good-looking cup sleeve and look forward to seeing Starbucks' packaging bags change accordingly next time.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

Disclaimer: Some images in this article are from the internet. For some content on the website, such as images, we will respect the original author's copyright and indicate the source; however, due to the large volume, a few images and texts may not have been credited in time. Please forgive us. If the original author has any disputes, they may contact the website for handling. Once verified, we will correct it immediately. Compiled and edited by "Coffee Works." Please indicate the source when reposting. If there is infringement, please inform us for deletion. Thank you~!

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