Starbucks Oleato Olive Oil Coffee Launches in the US! Netizens Criticize: Is This Lard Coffee?!

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Starbucks' Bold Innovation: The Oleato Olive Oil Coffee Series

Last month, Starbucks made waves by launching their groundbreaking "Oleato" series—a coffee line with olive oil that the entire coffee industry had never dared to imagine. The announcement sparked heated discussions online.

The series was inspired by the daily olive oil drinking habits of Sicilians in Italy. Unlike their typical approach, Starbucks chose Italy as the initial launch market instead of the United States.

However, just three days after the series launched in Italy, Italian netizens began passionately criticizing it for being too greasy! Many Italian netizens pointed out that the greatest characteristic of extra virgin olive oil is that it doesn't feel greasy when consumed, but the iced drinks in this series were truly disappointing! They complained that ice cubes caused the oil to stick to the inside of their mouths, creating a very uncomfortable sensation.

Some professional netizens analyzed the pros and cons of various products, acknowledging that aside from being greasy, other aspects were quite good. However, this didn't convince other netizens who found the drinks extremely greasy.

Consequently, Italian media conducted street interviews with people trying the new products. One interviewee mentioned that from her perspective, this product would likely be much more appealing to foreigners than to Italians.

American Market Reception

Undeterred, Starbucks firmly moved forward! On March 27th, they launched the product across the entire United States market! After another three days, how did this coffee series perform in the American market?

"So weird! It's exactly like lard coffee!"

That's right—American consumers also couldn't accept Starbucks' innovative breakthrough. Summarizing complaints from American netizens, the greasy texture wasn't what they found so bizarre—it was the olive oil congealing into chunks on the ice cubes, looking remarkably like lard...

Some netizens noted that if you don't drink the cold series products immediately after receiving them, the oil will float to the surface and gradually solidify. However, Starbucks rarely provides straws these days—customers drink directly through small holes in the lid. One sip and—you get oil separate from coffee, with solidified oil chunks sticking to your mouth... truly a try-at-your-own-risk experience.

One netizen mentioned that before trying it, an Italian Starbucks barista had warned her not to attempt it, but she didn't believe the warnings and tried it anyway... she's been regretting it ever since.

Starbucks' Strategy and Future Plans

Starbucks decided to launch this product series for two main reasons: first, this approach is genuinely innovative—no one in the industry had tried it before, which would attract significant consumer attention. Second, the series could appeal to health-conscious consumers, as using olive oil directly can reduce inflammation and support heart health.

Well... but the response seems to show signs of being a complete failure...

Currently, besides the Italian and American markets, Starbucks also plans to launch this product in the UK, Japan, and the Middle East. Whether this product will become a classic item and permanently join the regular menu remains to be seen.

Image source: Internet

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