Randy McGill

ENC3203
Business Proposal

Kids Menu in Starbucks

1. Suppose you are a kid go to Starbucks. Your parents decide to get you a drink, but you

are stuck with caffeinated options. As a kid, you cannot drink caffeine, so your choices

are extremely limited.

2. Imagine that you are caffeine sensitive. You want to meet up and catch up with someone,

they suggest Starbucks. The options for low-caffeinated beverages are there, they just

aren’t wide.

If you were able to picture these scenarios with ease, there shows a gap in the market. The

sheer revenue that a company like Starbucks could get by adding this menu would be

astronomical. Children, the elderly and pregnant women have the broad-spectrum of caffeine

sensitivity issues.1 Similar to people with allergies, children and other caffeine sensitive peoples

should be able to enjoy a drink from Starbucks. Currently, Starbucks does have drinks that are

lower in caffeine, but they are not very expansive. As aforementioned, they are lower in caffeine,

not caffeine free. Within Starbucks, there are the Frappucinos, which are very similar to a

milkshake and high in sugar. There is a coffee-based variant of the Frappucinos, however, not

many people realize there is actual caffeine in the drink until they do further research. The non-

coffee-based variant is the lesser know one due to the lack of popularity. Utilizing the concept of

1
Medical News Today (https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/caffeine-sensitivity#risk-factors
more truly caffeine-free drinks, more people would be able to go to Starbucks. Thus, spiking

revenue to the company.

Current attitudes toward Starbucks is that it is expensive and that it is bitter coffee. This

means that the average consumer would not be very knowledgeable on what the potential

offerings could be. This can be based on the reputation Starbucks has with people who are not

knowledgeable on Starbucks. Starbucks has the opportunity to present themselves in a new light

to those who are not familiar with the company’s drinks. This new line could be a page turner for

those needing truly caffeine-free options for health reasons.

There are two different routes that Starbucks can take with this. They can update their

app to have a designated spot for a caffeine-free/kid’s filter on the menu or make a line of drinks

geared toward kids. The first option would be the easiest option, leading to lower costs, and an

update to their mobile app solving a majority of the problem. The second is creating a line

similar to the Refreshers line but geared toward kids.

Currently, the Refreshers line is a very diverse line with four base flavors. These flavors

are juice bases that can be made into other drinks with lemonade, water, or coconut milks. The

main issue here is the caffeine count. For a grande-size, there is 45 milligrams in the 16-fluid

ounce drink.2 Another popular beverage line is the Frappucinos, these still have a significant

amount of caffeine, a grande-size has a grand total of 95 milligrams of caffeine. 3 For those with

caffeine-sensitivity and health issues, these are ruled out for them. Causing potential customers

to be turned away because of the caffeine count.

2
Starbucks Refresher (starbucks.com/menu/product/2121342/iced?parent=%2Fdrinks%2Fcold-drinks
%2Fstarbucks-refreshers)
3
Starbucks Frappucino (https://www.starbucks.com/menu/product/956/iced?parent=%2Fdrinks%2Ffrappuccino-
blended-beverages%2Fcoffee-frappuccino)
 My solution would be to create a line similar to that of the Refreshers, and name it

something that is appealing to kids. Similar to that of the Happy Meal at McDonalds. This could

be something as simple as the “Siren Sipper” (the Starbucks logo is commonly misinterpreted as

a mermaid) or the “Little Refresher”. These would be caffeine-free and have different variants.

Similar to the standard Refresher lineup, there could be a couple different flavors and be

customizable. The beverages could be made with water, lemonade, coconut milk, or even apple

juice. Then, they could be made blended or iced.

Now would be an excellent time to conduct the two months of research and development.

This is in part to the holiday drinks. They extend from November 6th to the middle of January.

This leads to the month and a half needed for corporate experimentation. The budget needs to be

placed near $2,500 for labor, supplies, and research. If successful, the test stores could get the

recipes and supplies at the end of January. This gives Starbucks ample time to create a drink, get

it to the test stores, and market it. The marketing process would be held on the Starbucks app,

Instagram ads, Snapchat ads, Facebook ads, and a TikTok trend.