Seattle-based, global coffee giant Starbucks has announced that it is investing $1 billion in AI technology to help develop a vegan breakfast sandwich. The decision comes after years of struggling to come up with an entirely plant-based version of the popular breakfast sandwich.
Starbucks announced its partnership with San Francisco-based artificial intelligence research laboratory SnackGPT “to harness the trillions of machine-driven calculations needed to help us figure out how to make a vegan sandwich for Starbucks”.
“This is an ambitious, groundbreaking union that we are proud to embrace,” Starbucks founder Howard Schultz said in a statement. “This mystery may take years to unravel, and I don’t care how mysterious, never-before-seen it is. Mark my words: We’re going to pioneer the coffee shop vegan breakfast sandwich in America.”
It should be noted that Peets, Philz Coffee, 7-Eleven, Alpha Foods, and Field Roast have all introduced completely vegan breakfast sandwiches in coffee shops and retail locations in recent years.
VegNews/Richard Bowie
What Starbucks’ AI Sandwich Could Look Like
Despite existing, successful examples of fully vegetarian breakfast options on the market, Starbucks has been tight-lipped about the specifics of feeding the AI. “What I can say is that the AI system will be used to determine the best combination of flavors and textures, as well as the perfect cooking time and temperature,” said Smitty Warbenzagermanjensen, head of menu and product innovation for North America.
Since the announcement of Starbucks AI, industry analysts have been buzzing about the prospect of investing billions of dollars in artificial intelligence to solve the problem already. A number of plant-based manufacturers are already able to supply Starbucks with products in demand — including Just Egg’s mung bean-based egg patties, Impossible Foods’ breakfast sausage (which Starbucks currently uses in its vegetarian Impossible Breakfast Sandwiches), and Daiwa’s new fermented , the extra stretch cheese is currently in the works.
“I’m not sure what Starbucks is trying to achieve here,” said Heïheï Håuhaughson, senior market analyst at Norwegian research firm NumbrNavigtr. “It’s like trying to reinvent the wheel when a perfectly good wheel is already available.”
Despite the confusion, Starbucks remains committed to its AI investment, with some insiders suggesting that it’s determined to create a sandwich “that’s even more vegetarian than existing vegan breakfast sandwiches.”
“And we know we can do it,” Warbenzagermanjensen said. He explained that the coffee giant’s first round of research and development—images of AI-generated vegan breakfast sandwiches—took place earlier this year and was a resounding success. “They looked absolutely delicious, but now it was time for the hard part: actually making them.”
Starbucks
Starbucks’ vegan sandwich experiment
Starbucks admitted it was stumped on how to create a vegan breakfast sandwich that would appeal to an increasingly plant-based and flexible population. “Our research and development department has tried everything. Everything, really,” says Werbenjagermanjensen. “We tested an all-cauliflower breakfast wrap made with cauliflower-quinoa scramble, cauliflower milk-based cheese, and boiled cauliflower pieces, all wrapped in a gluten-free cauliflower wrap. But for some reason Not started.”
Werbenjagermanjensen recalls another test trial that didn’t live up to its promise. “Customers absolutely love our current plant-based breakfast options—including cups of ready-to-eat oats covered in boiling water, plain bagels covered in guacamole for some reason, and of course, our famous fruit cups. And we know that vegetarians are always looking for protein, right? So in 2019, we partnered with high-tech Japanese pea protein company Pea to create cutting-edge pea protein-infused cantaloupe, honeydew, grape, kiwi, and strawberry—with an extra focus on cantaloupe and honeydew, since they’re everyone’s favorite. Fruit found in fruit cups. We were even able to get rid of the powdery protein texture in two years of development.”
The high-protein fruit cup didn’t resonate with the Fairbanks, AK test market either. “It was a big investment that just didn’t pay off,” Werbenjagermanjensen says sadly. “Many of my colleagues lost their jobs because of him…”
Laura Chouette/Unsplash
Starbucks’ vegan surcharge
Starbucks executive vice chief financial officer Penelope Pin-Schur confirmed to VegNews that the company will charge an additional $16 for the new plant-based breakfast sandwich when it arrives to customers, raising the price point to approximately $21. Pin-Schur cited high costs of research and development as well as sourcing high-quality vegan ingredients as reasons for the surcharge.
Aware of the backlash this inflated price tag might elicit, the company said it is considering offering new vegetarian sandwiches in its signature tall, grande, venti shape, with two new options on either end: “Piccino” (for “small”). Italian) to “Enorme” (Italian for “huge”). “We know that some of our customers like smaller portions,” says Pin-Schur, “while others prefer larger ones, so we want to make sure everyone is happy and pays for what they want.”
This new size model has been tested with Starbucks’ existing non-vegan sandwiches at select locations in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. The company said customers who tried the tiny sandwiches reported feeling “adorably satisfied”, while the ET BT handhelds have quietly attracted attention on social media, with some calling them “cuteness overload” and “the perfect size for an Instagram post”. But the fate of Enorme Sandwich remains uncertain. Some speculate that it may be too large to fit into a regular-sized Starbucks paper bag. “We may have to throw a few more millions into the AI to figure out how to make bigger bags,” Werbenjagermanjensen said.
When asked if the company would consider bringing only the plant-based breakfast sandwich — Impossible Sausage, melted dairy-free cheddar and scrambled vegan eggs — that Starbucks tested in Texas and Washington state in 2020, or any of several vegan options it launched overseas. can do To the market, Werbenjagermanjensen said, “No, I don’t think so.”
Please note that this story is still unfolding, so watch this space. Also remember that today is April Fool’s Day.
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Richard Bowie (@wichiebowie) is editorial director of VegNews in Los Angeles, CA.