Starbucks bullish on menu with beer, wine

Beginning next week, Canadians will be able to choose between a tall cappuccino or a glass of Chianti at Starbucks.

More than five years after the debut of its “Starbucks Evenings” pilot project in the U.S., Starbucks Canada will start selling wine, craft beer and cider Tuesday at three Toronto outlets.

“We already have the customers in our stores,” Rossann Williams, president of the country’s biggest specialty coffee chain, said in Toronto, where the expanded menu will be available from 2 p.m. onward each day. “We are just extending the type of experience that they can have with this evenings menu.”

In addition to alcohol, the enhanced menu features a line of higher-end “reserve” coffees and shareable appetizer plates such as bacon-wrapped dates and truffle popcorn. The licensed beverage lineup includes Prosecco for $9 a glass, red and white wines ranging in price from $9 to $13 per six-ounce glass and a selection of bottled craft beer and cider for $5 to $6.

The timing of a broader rollout in Canada, where the company has 1,300 locations, will depend on how keenly customers embrace the program. But Williams said executives are “pretty bullish” about its performance thus far at more than 300 locations across the United States, one location in the U.K. and one in Japan.

“We are so confident in this platform because in the last five years customers have said, ‘Yes, yes, yes ... and yes,’” to sipping a glass of Pinot Grigio at the Seattle-based coffee giant, which has seen its core domain challenged in Canada by the immense and somewhat unexpected success of McDonald’s push into the market.

“As we see this program work, we will continue to innovate and enhance it and will make decisions on how quickly and how far it will roll out,” she said.

But considering the imbibing habits of Canadians — in addition to drinking more coffee per capita than Americans, we also drink more wine — it will likely be wellreceived.

“I think it is going to be very successful,” said Robert Carter, executive director at market research firm NPD Group.

“This is clearly a way for Starbucks to drive up traffic and sales in the slower part of their day — the afternoon and evening. Coffee volumes drop at that time of the day, so it is much quieter in there.”

The industry metrics also sway in Starbucks’ favour — the coffee retailer’s average customer cheque is $4.75, according to NPD data, compared to an average cheque of $23 at full-service restaurants when alcohol is included.