Starbucks China has unveiled its first Starbucks Reserve Bakery Café, featuring Italian Princi food.
Starbucks says the in-store experience is dedicated to the Starbucks Reserve coffees served alongside artisanal and made-to-order food prepared by Princi bakers onsite every day.
Each baker has been trained in the Italian baker Rocco Princi’s distinctive method of artisanal craft of baking to perfect the recipes for each food item
The café also features an expanded menu of Starbucks signature mixology, including distinctive coffee and tea-inspired cocktails, Italian classics like Aperol Spritz, fine Italian wines and beers.
This is the first-of-its-kind Italian aperitivo experience in a Starbucks store location within China.
“For 20 years, Starbucks has revolutionised, and set new standards, around the third place for our Chinese customers. Today marks yet another significant milestone as we take everything we have learned around coffee and our relentless pursuit for food innovation, to create a new exciting all-day café dining and Italian aperitivo experience,” says Belinda Wong, CEO of Starbucks China.
“Our ability to consistently elevate the customer and brand experience in a meaningful and respectful manner truly reflects Starbucks unmatched energy and operational capabilities to execute against our purpose-driven growth agenda to play the long game in China.”
The café features Starbucks Reserve Princi Blend as the signature coffee offering for its handcrafted espresso beverages made using a Black Eagle espresso machine. This reserve blend can also be enjoyed freshly-brewed using a siphon brewer, pour-over or Starbucks Draft Nitro.
The expanded Princi menu offers more than 100 different artisanal food items, freshly prepared onsite throughout the day.
Starting from breakfast, customers can enjoy cornetti sandwiches made with prosciutto cotto, yogurt with fruit and grains, and made-to-order baked eggs in purgatory or portobello sauce.
For lunch, the menu features a variety of enticing soups, focaccia sandwiches, pizzas, and for the first time, salads, including Chicken and Artichoke with Taggiasche Olives.
In the afternoon, the selections expand to include iItalian cakes, tarts and desserts, including the classic Tiramisu and Delizia al Limone.
On weekends, the café features a selection of classic Princi brunch menu items, such as the frittata and whole portobello plate.
Each day from 5pm to 7pm, the store celebrates Aperitivo Time, where customers can enjoy handcrafted cocktails, wine and beer with free-flow of pizza bites, green olives, and schiacciatine.
“I am excited to work with my Princi partners, and Starbucks, to unlock the infinite possibilities of Princi food elevating every daypart for our Chinese customers, from breakfast, lunch, to the new evening Aperitivo experience,” Rocco Princi says.
“This exceptional opportunity to pair Starbucks Reserve coffees with Princi’s 30-year heritage of serving only the freshest and artisanal food, in a brand-new store format, is another dream come true for me.”