Starbucks Breakfast Sandwiches: Now Less Smelly
Another change at Starbucks in light of recent underperformance? The reheated breakfast sandwiches—yeah, they're making them smell less. While the McMuffin lookalikes received poor marks on taste from us, customers still found them perfectly appetizing. It was the smell that irked them.
Meaty, eggy aromas were infiltrating the undertones of Kona Blend and Caffè Verona in the air. "While relatively popular, the smell interfered with the coffee aroma, and therefore the store experience," according to Ad Age. The article noted that products have been reformulated to eliminate this "smell" problem.
Back in January, CEO Howard Schultz said the breakfast sandwiches were on the way out, but we swear we've spotted them behind glass counters at multiple branches. A trip to a nearby Starbucks this morning confirmed our suspicions: plenty of sandwiches and a confused barista who hadn't heard of impending smell-related tweaks.
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16 Comments:
Funny about all of the negative comments about the starbucks breakfast sandwiches. I am a pre-made egg sandwich naysayer in general, think they are across the board pretty gross, but I had a SB sandwich once and actually really enjoyed it. However the concept of de-smelling food is deeply disturbing.
jlbrach at 6:11PM on 07/31/08
Ugh. I tried one of these "sandwiches" and it was HORRIBLE. The bacon and bread were both soggy and the "egg" made me long for McDonald's. The smell was the last thing I considered. Starbucks should stick to it's day job. (Especially considering the number of stores they're closing down...)
swaaaan at 6:28PM on 07/31/08
I tried a breakfast sandwich there a few weeks ago when running late and it was better than expected. A level of good enough that motivated me to fail to purchase another one since, and instead go out and buy the ingredients to make my own delicious breakfast sandwiches and bring them on the train.
marinelm at 6:45PM on 07/31/08
Mr. Schultz said the products have been reformulated to eliminate the "smell" problem. -- from the Ad Age story.
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It's odd to hear people describe the smell of food as a problem, but I'm more interested in knowing how they eliminated the smell(s).
FastFoodCritic at 7:02PM on 07/31/08
@Fast Food Critic: I'm totally with you. What exactly are they going to do to it? I've had the egg white and turkey bacon one and it's actually not that bad. The egg wraps on the other hand are downright disgusting. It was literally stuffed with a log of "egg food product."
BrooklynBrownie at 7:18PM on 07/31/08
I do not understand why we are unable to make decent sandwiches in this country. The sandwich is the backbone of America, yet they are disgusting. I tried one of the Starbuck's creations and it wasn't good enough to want another.
While traveling in Finland I thought that they had the best "to go" sandwiches I have ever had. Freshly made with fresh and uncomplicated ingredients and nice bread. They were delicious and you could get them anywhere.
I would find it intriguing to know how they made the smell better...
sel123 at 7:41PM on 07/31/08
What made them "smell" in the first place? Was it an ingredient, a cooking process, what? My grievance with them is their off-putting appearance. One of our local Starbucks had one cut in half. It had this unidentifiable black substance inside, that turned out to be avocado. This singular experience has turned me off to those sandwiches forever.
beth1 at 9:04PM on 07/31/08
Talking to my local (Seattle) barista when the news first came out, apparently they're not replacing the sandwiches until the new idea for savory breakfast food is ready (at the end of the summer she'd thought). So those sandwiches you saw are unlikely to be any less smelly than they were six months ago--we just won't see their replacement for another few months.
graphxgrrl at 10:10PM on 07/31/08
If they want to serve egg sandwiches they should remodel their stores and put in grills. You can get a better egg sandwich at any corner deli.
bobbob at 9:51AM on 08/01/08
You can also get better coffee at any corner deli.
ESNY1077 at 10:05AM on 08/01/08
First off, these sandwiches are not bad for what they are.
But the more important point is this: I am absolutely positive that the smell comes from the ovens, not the sandwiches themselves. I've noticed this in numerous branches that serve them. Yes, there's a meaty/cheesy smell, but it's mixed with a pronounced, acrid, metallic odor that smells like cooked cleaning solution. I can only describe it as an industrial smell, and I've smelled it in Starbucks on both coasts. The solution is to put a high powered vent over the ovens, not to nix the sandwiches.
strozzapreti at 11:09AM on 08/01/08
Though the sandwiches were "discontinued" several months ago, they weren't going to take them off the shelves until September (which I think had something to do with their fiscal year?).
As for changing the smell of the new sandwiches they say they will use "non-smelly" cheese and less butter on the eggs. The quote that got me was "The company may try to change the products enough to market them as distinct from the original sandwiches." so who knows what sandwich may show up! (FWIW-I'm a fan of the turkey bacon on whole wheat one).
hkydiva at 2:30PM on 08/01/08
Starbucks' CEO is Howard Schultz, not Harold Shultz.
Adam Kuban at 12:21AM on 08/02/08
How ironic that Hannah HOWARD...didn't get that it's HOWARD Shultz...jest sayin' ;)
pthom at 1:04PM on 08/03/08
@Adam: the entry has been corrected.
Raphael at 1:07PM on 08/03/08
"You can get a better egg sandwich at any corner deli."
If you live somewhere that HAS corner delis. Our only breakfast options are a bad McD, Chick Fil A (gag), or Hardees. So we are VERRRRRY happy to have Starbucks' breakfast sandwiches!!!!!!!!!!
prometheamoth at 8:42PM on 08/07/09