(Trends Wide) — Starbucks is betting big on olive oil-infused coffee, hoping customers will be drawn to the rarity and health benefits of extra-virgin olive oil.
“It’s one of the biggest launches we’ve had in decades,” Brady Brewer, Starbucks chief marketing officer, told Trends Wide. Former CEO Howard Schultz added in an interview with Poppy Harlow that it will “transform the coffee industry” and be “a very profitable new addition to the company.”
But the company may not have accounted for it: Some customers say it forces them to run to the bathroom.
“Half the team tried it yesterday and some ended up… needing to use the bathroom, if you know what I mean,” a barista posted on the Starbucks Reddit page. Trends Wide has reached out to the Reddit user for comment.
It could be the oil shine. Or it could be the aftertaste. Social networks were quick to condemn the drink and its side effects.
“That starbs oleate drink makes my stomach do the talking.” one user tweeted.
Those with sensitive stomachs are already tired.
“IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) patient here. I wouldn’t touch this drink even with a 10-foot pole,” said one Reddit user.
The new platform, Oleato, was launched in Italy in February. Each drink – an oat latte, an iced espresso and a cold brew with golden foam – is made with a tablespoon of oil, which adds 120 calories to a drink. Select Starbucks stores in Seattle and Los Angeles and Reserves in Chicago, Seattle and New York now serve the beverage platform.
Trends Wide has reached out to Starbucks for comment.
The science behind malaise
Olive oil is a staple in Mediterranean culture and some drink tablespoons of olive oil daily in the region.
But Starbucks’ drink has a potentially fragile combination: caffeine, which is uplifting, and olive oil, which is relaxing.
A 16-ounce drink has up to 34 grams of fat, which is more than many find in a meal, said registered dietitian nutritionist Erin Palinski-Wade. And mineral oils like olive oil tend to be used to treat constipation because it helps soften stool, making it easier to go to the bathroom.
“If you combined a high-fat meal or drink with coffee, which already stimulates the intestines,” Palinski-Wade said, “that combination can cause cramps. It can cause increased mobility in the colon and therefore have that laxative effect.”
Some patrons said the speed at which they had to use the bathroom after drinking the drink caught them by surprise. But high-fat foods take longer to digest than liquid olive oil, which reaches the digestive tract faster, Palinski-Wade said. And most Americans drink coffee on the go and don’t combine the drink with carbs and fiber to counteract the impact.
The benefits of olive oil are widely reported, linked to reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and lowering of blood pressure (although the positive health results could be due to the Mediterranean diet replacing unhealthy fats like butter with olive oil, reported The New York Times).
“(The drink) is not going to make someone physically ill from a negative health impact standpoint,” Palinski-Wade said. “But more of that uncomfortable feeling of having to go to the bathroom or having potential cramps.”
In the Mediterranean, taking a tablespoon of olive oil a day is part of the daily routine. Former CEO Howard Schultz picked up this habit from olive oil producer Tommaso Asaro while in Sicily, Italy.
“When we got together and started doing this ritual, I told [Asaro], I know you think I’m going to go crazy, but have you ever thought about infusing a tablespoon of olive oil with Starbucks coffee?” Schultz told Trends Wide’s Poppy Harlow. “He thought it was a bit strange.” Asaro is the president of United Olive Oil, through which Starbucks sources its olive oil.
