Starbucks Bets On Protein Trend With New Cold Foam And Lattes

Starbucks is jumping on the protein bandwagon with their latest offerings - Protein Cold Foam and Protein Lattes - hitting U.S. and Canadian stores September 29th.

I’ve noticed this move perfectly aligns with America’s growing obsession with protein consumption. Everyone seems fixated on muscle gains, feeling full longer, and general wellness these days. The fitness culture explosion and those trendy weight-loss medications like Ozempic have only intensified this protein fixation.

These new drinks pack a serious protein punch. Adding their Protein Cold Foam boosts your grande beverage to 19-26 grams of protein, while their Protein Latte delivers an impressive 27-36 grams. That’s practically a meal in liquid form!

The cold foam concept, which customers have been crazy about since 2018, now comes in flavors like banana, vanilla, chocolate, matcha, salted caramel, and the inevitable pumpkin seasonal option. They’re making this with what they call “protein-boosted milk” - essentially 2% milk blended with unflavored protein powder prepared fresh daily.

What’s clever is how they’ve designed these drinks to avoid added sugar while maintaining flavor. Soon customers can even customize other beverages with this protein-boosted milk, adding 12-16 grams of protein per grande serving.

This launch follows Starbucks reporting its best-ever U.S. sales week, driven by those addictive pumpkin spice lattes. Seems CEO Brian Niccol’s turnaround strategy might actually be working. Their Global Chief Brand Officer calls this protein line part of their push for “innovative, relevant, and hype-worthy products.”

By embracing the protein craze, Starbucks is clearly gambling they can strengthen their cold beverage dominance while appealing to health-conscious customers. I’m skeptical whether this is truly about health or just another way to charge premium prices for trendy ingredients, but there’s no denying they know how to capitalize on consumer trends.