Starbucks Taking A Page From 16 Handles Book?
Need evidence that yogurt is bigger than ever? As 16 Handles gets ready to launch it's kale frozen yogurt smoothie, Starbucks announces their own kale yogurt smoothie. Coincidence? 16 Handles thinks not! 16 Handles CE-YO Solomon Choi says, "We introduced smoothies made with frozen yogurt last summer and are happy to say they were an instant hit. Seeing Starbucks take a similar approach to smoothies, we can't help but think imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."
As a matter of fact 16 Handles own kale smoothie, Oh Kale Yeah!, hits stores next week (April 8th). The fro yo lifestyle chain is also debuting it's Acai Elixir smoothie that day. This joins their already fun smoothie menu made up of the BFF (Strawberry Banana), Tropic Thunder (Mango Pineapple), Brr Berry (Blueberry, Raspberry, Strawberry) and Surf's up (vegan Strawberry and Banana smoothie).
Starbucks is also said to be launching parfaits soon. This too comes hot on the heels of the breakfast program 16 Handles started in February of this year. 16 Handles introduced fresh yogurt and allows guests to DIY their own parfaits.
The goal of the breakfast concept is to provide more food and beverage options to its guests throughout the day, with a focus on self-serve healthy breakfast and snacks. Guests get to top their breakfasts with the great toppings bar, which will include lots of new toppings (including vegetables like tomato, avocado and cucumber as well as olive oil and balsamic vinegar). Letting customers customize their breakfast on their own like this is something no other restaurant is doing.
Breakfast is already available at 16 Handles Chelsea location. It rolls out at their other New York City locations later this month.