Starbucks will launch Aerocano on Sept. 29 across North America for National Coffee Day, bringing an air-whipped iced espresso drink to its menus this week. Chanda Beppu said the drink is creamy, slightly sweet, and meant to add a visual and textural element to a familiar Americano experience.
Beppu, the senior vice president of Starbucks Asia Pacific, said, “I’m an Americano drinker myself, and it’s fun to take that familiar experience and add a visual and textural element to it.” Starbucks says the drink transforms Blonde Espresso and ice into a velvety, aerated coffee beverage, and that its appearance is its most distinctive feature.
The company says the aerated espresso settles into a cascading effect, which is part of the drink’s visual appeal. Starbucks also says the beverage was inspired by a drink that became a sensation in South Korea, where it has become one of the company’s most popular menu items.
South Korea and Starbucks
Beppu said, “The visuals have show-stopping power,” and added, “We want people to look across the street and say, ‘What’s that? How interesting! I need to cross the street to Starbucks.'” That pitch makes the launch more than a menu addition; Starbucks is trying to turn the drink’s look into the first draw.
The rollout arrives while Starbucks is also saying it plans to close 250 North American stores this year. At the same time, the company expects 1,500 stores to be retrofitted by Sept. 30, giving the launch a narrow window to reach more locations quickly.
Sept. 30 retrofit target
For customers, the immediate change is simple: Aerocano is scheduled to appear on menus starting Sept. 29, tied to National Coffee Day, with a broader North American rollout underway this week. The unresolved piece is how many North American stores will serve it on launch day, even as Starbucks works toward the 1,500-store retrofit target by Sept. 30.
The drink’s appeal rests on a familiar base with a different finish, and that is the part Starbucks is betting people notice first. For anyone looking for it on Sept. 29, the launch is the point where the company’s South Korea-inspired menu experiment becomes a North America product.
