Starbucks Planning to Offer Value Menu?
Yet another battle is being laid out in the seemingly endless war between Starbucks and McDonald's. After McD's taunts that their coffee drinks are just as delicious as those from the Seattle-based chain, but served without the soupcon of pretension and intellifoofiness, Starbucks is going for the jugular. They're unveiling what sounds awfully like a Value Meal: something CEO Howard Schultz is describing as "several breakfast pairings" at "attractive" prices.
This is all to counteract the dismal showing Starbucks has brought for the last few months — earnings were down by 10% this past quarter, and 8% the quarter before that. Dunkin' Donuts is also throwing its hat into the breakfast ring, aggressively pushing coffee-and-egg-sandwich promotions for rock-bottom prices.
It seems the hope of all of these players — McDonald's, Starbucks, and DD — is that customers will be swayed first and foremost by the dollar signs, and that a desire to save generally a dollar or less on a coffee drink will outweigh any preexisting brand loyalty. Speaking just for myself, I find my coffee- and breakfast-buying decisions are driven largely by quality — something I find easier to align with a brand name than with a price point, as I've been known to simply order a cheaper drink at my chain of choice rather than switch to a lower-priced alternative at a competitor.
Though actually if I'm going to be completely honest, I've been completely put off the entire notion of breakfast sandwiches, thanks to the horrible, horrible smell that now pervades at all Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts within walking distance of my home and work. Here's hoping that if they do roll out this value menu, the 'Bucks will have the forethought to also install some air purifyers.
Value meal at Starbucks, coming up. But will it tempt enough recession-weary drinkers? [Trib/AP]
[Photo: d'n'c/Flickr]
