Starbucks launches new bread-free range

Starbucks is introducing a range of bread-free lunch options as part of a greater focus on food as it looks to become more than just a coffee house.

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The “Grab and Go Bistro Boxes”, are designed to appeal to office workers to eat at their desks for lunch.

The range of five “reflect the international tastes” in the UK market, the company says, and have been designed “based on changing lifestyle habits and the desire for more bread-free options”.

Options include an anti-pasti selection, cheese and oatcakes, falafel mezze and a cured ham hock and potato option.

Starbucks lunch menu has previously been limited to sandwiches and Panini’s, alongside its range of cakes and recently introduced breakfast menu and Petites range of mini-cakes.

In January, Starbucks dropped its name and the word coffee from its logo to make way for further diversification and entry into additional product categories.

Starbucks will be looking to grab business from food and drink outlets such as Pret a Manger, which offers a more substantial lunchtime menu. It will also be looking to retain share in the coffee market in the face of competition from rivals such as Costa.
Its UK and Irish division recently reported its seventh consecutive quarter of growth.

Brian Waring, vice president of marketing and category for Starbucks UK and Ireland, says: “We believe it is really important that our customers have a wide range of tasty food that complements our great coffee when they visit us.

“They told us that they wanted different food options, such as more bread-free products, which is why the Bistro Boxes are so on trend.”

It is claimed each savoury box contains less than 500 calories and contribute a consumers recommended five-a-day.

The boxes will be available from 6 October in Starbucks UK stores. The chain introduced a slightly different range of Bistro Boxes in Chicago earlier this summer.

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