Starbuck’s ‘Trenta’ Size: New Product Marketing Raises Both Excitement & Concerns

Coffee drinkers, unite! For those of you who are loyal to Starbucks…this is probably already old news.

Starbucks, one of the most prominent coffeehouse chains in the world have served its loyal customers since 1971. Atmospheric, cozy rooms, a wide variety of cold and hot drinks, baked pastries and snacks, and even some of the latest selection of hip, urban music for added ambience.

Current sizes at Starbucks (from l-r): Short, Tall, Grande, and Venti (20 US fl oz.)

After releasing its new logo in 2011, Starbuck’s next marketing task for the new year is to gradually introduce its new cup size, the trenta (Italian for thirty, although it is 31 US fl oz.) to customers in the United States. The company hopes to debut the new marketing product nationwide by May 3rd.

New Starbucks logo for 2011

While some customers may be jumping with glee (I know I am), the company seemed to have overlooked the fact that our nation is among one of the most health-conscious; consistently rooted in the notion that living well equates to consuming less calories. Trenta have been under attack by dietitians, and graphs have sprung up that provide visual comparisons of the size of a human stomach to trenta (the average stomach capacity at 900 ml, while the trenta size is 920 ml). Starbucks have claimed that they will only be utilizing the trenta size for drinks that are under 230 calories, but some have contested that extra additions (such as sugar, cream, milk, or flavoring) that customers put into their drinks will increase the calories overall.  Others believe that the new size might make its way to drinks of higher caloric content in the long run. Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, defended the new product by stating that “the 31-ounce beverage was a response from customers who wanted iced coffee and iced tea only in a larger size.” In order to generate customer excitement for the arrival of trenta, Starbucks recently launched the Starbucks Card eGifts on Facebook, where Facebook users can now connect their accounts to eGifts and send Starbucks gift cards to their friends without knowing their email addresses.

Taking these arguments into account, how do you think the Starbucks ‘trenta’ will fare in the future – short-term and long-term? What are some alterations or additional marketing techniques the company should adopt in order to appease the health concerns of our nation, and to make the product more appealing to its consumers?

As a final note, be on the lookout California. You are next on the list as the trenta will be arriving to your local Starbucks on February 1, 2011…you might want to save room in your stomach for that day!