When Starbucks opened its doors in 1971, fresh-roasted coffee and loose-leaf tea was scooped by hand into wax paper bags, with the black ink letters of a rubber stamp declaring its contents – like Sumatra, House Blend and Italian Roast.

core/paragraph

core/image

But by the time Starbucks transformed from a whole-bean coffee retailer to an Italian-style coffeehouse in 1987, the packaging became a vessel for storytelling. First came coffee stamps, illustrated stickers that were themselves little pieces of art. Designs could be playful, romantic or bold, much like the coffee itself. Then in 1995 came Blue Note Blend, the first coffee to be sold in packaging printed with colorful graphics. 

These new “rollstock” packages offered an even larger canvas for sharing each coffee’s unique story through images and words. The packaging often incorporated stamp designs that echoed the old-school stickers until 2011 with the <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2011/starbucks-celebrates-40-years-of-great-coffee-with-new-look-new-global-prod/">update to the Starbucks logo and brand identity</a> and <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2012/starbucks-blonde-roast-coffee-the-lighter-roast-perfected-available-in-reta/">launch of Starbucks® Blonde Roasted coffees</a>.

Designing a new core coffee bag can be a daunting task. Unlike seasonal coffees such as&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2021/starbucks-christmas-blend-the-story-behind-the-beloved-holiday-brew/">Starbucks® Christmas Blend</a> (or even <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2017/20-years-of-starbucks-holiday-cups/">holiday cups</a>!) core coffee packaging does not change every year. In fact, the design is intended to last at least 10 years. So, how does the bag tell the story of the beans inside?

Sergio Alvarez, coffee/tea development lead on Starbucks Coffee team, partnered with the Starbucks Creative Studio to share the stories behind the beans – starting with tasting notes and descriptive words to highlight the flavors of each unique coffee blend.

“We have a very unique and thoughtful way that we develop coffee blends at Starbucks and we wanted to make sure that came through in how we describe them,” Alvarez said. “Depending on the blend, depending on the roast and depending on the region, there are different flavors that we associate with each of these special coffees.”

Although the coffee flavor profiles are the same delicious coffees customers know and love, the new packaging uses more descriptive and culinary terms to describe the flavor notes – like Veranda Blend®, which was updated from “mellow and soft” to “toasted malt and milk chocolate” and Italian Roast, which went from “roasty and sweet” to “dark cocoa and toasted marshmallow.”

Alvarez and the Coffee team also shared the history of many of Starbucks most beloved blends to inspire the designers. Organic Yukon Blend®, for example, was created in 1971 after a customer requested a coffee that would help keep his fishermen going during the fishing season in the Bering Sea. In the new packaging, Yukon Blend evokes that same independent spirit of Alaska with a mountainous scene set in the Yukon Valley.

core/heading

“Our coffee reminds us of people, or moments, or experiences, and we were able to explore that in the way we approach our coffee packaging,” Alvarez said.

Translating those stories into art was a fun challenge for the Creative Studio’s designers and illustrators, as they sought to weave together past, present and future while tapping into Starbucks new creative brand expression.

“Our legacy has used hand-done illustration to bring warmth and brand connection. We wanted to continue to tie a thread to our new packaging,” said Derek Shimizu, associate creative director for the Creative Studio. “We also wanted to make sure we were staying modern while looking forward into our brand.”

The strategic selection of colors is one of the most important elements of the design. With every creative brand expression since the packaging refresh of 2011, and again with the most current update from 2013, designers have used palettes of gold, copper and purple to signify roast intensity. The new designs continue using those visual cues to identify Blonde (gold), Medium (copper) and Dark (purple) roasts.

Now, what to draw? Illustrators would often start with iconography and motifs that recall past designs. An Italian scooter found its way again on to the front of Italian Roast, as did the roses that adorn Caffè Verona®. And it wouldn’t be Komodo Dragon Blend® without its eponymous lizard. They also worked to incorporate coffee cherries and botanicals into the designs to highlight the origins of coffee.

Designers also consider what they call the “architecture” of each bag to make it easy to shop for their coffees, whether they are in Starbucks stores or the grocery aisle. They created a badge system that is consistent across the roast spectrum with design details that clearly identify roast and tasting notes. They highlighted Starbucks commitment to responsibly grown coffee by bringing the ethical sourcing stamp to the front, underscoring the company’s commitment to positively impacting the lives and livelihoods of coffee farmers and their communities. There's also a traceability code on the back of the bags sold in Starbucks stores that can connect customers in the U.S. and Canada to where the coffee is grown using the <a href="https://traceability.starbucks.com/#/">Starbucks Digital Traceability tool</a>.

“Our current packaging was artful and expressive, but every bag had a different typography, different icon placement, which made it a little bit hard to navigate or find where you were within the roast,” said Shimizu. “We wanted make all of those elements straightforward and easy for the customer to navigate with this refresh.”

<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2022/starbucks-debuts-new-whole-bean-coffee-packaging/">Learn more about the five new coffee bag designs</a>, and read on for a deeper dive into three of them.

Veranda Blend is a smooth and mellow Starbucks® Blonde Roasted Latin American coffee, and its packaging makes you feel like you are sipping coffee in a lush garden. The bag is grounded in golden hues, with delicate hummingbirds flitting in and out of the scene, a nod to the coffee’s lighter roast. Accents of a Starbucks dark <a href="https://creative.starbucks.com/color/">“house green”</a> and periwinkle on the coffee cherries and foliage further highlight this coffee’s story. “With the illustration, I wanted to transport our customer to a lively veranda in Latin America and then to give a sense of place,” said designer and illustrator Yumi Reid. “I wanted people to feel like sipping amazing coffee the coffee farmers created there – really feel like being there in Latin America where this amazing coffee comes from.”

Named after Starbucks first store, in Seattle’s Pike Place Market, Starbucks® Pike Place® Roast is served fresh every day in Starbucks stores around the world. A smooth, well-rounded Medium Roasted blend of Latin American beans with subtly rich flavors of cocoa and praline, makes it the perfect brewed coffee.

Bridget Shilling, Pike Place Roast’s illustrator and designer, felt a special connection to the Pike Place store – her husband worked at the market for several years.

“Being assigned to work on Pike Place was a special moment for me. I just think there's something magical about going to the Pike Place store and celebrating our history as a brand,” Shilling said.

She was inspired to showcase the heritage of the store with a design inspired by old-fashioned luggage stickers on a rich, copper background, and included the original brown logo, a coffee stamp, and Pike Place’s iconic Public Market Center sign. But her favorite is her homage to Rachel the Piggy Bank, the life-size bronze sculpture that has served as the market’s mascot since 1986. (There’s also a <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2017/hidden-history-at-starbucks-pike-place-market-store/">replica covered in coffee beans</a> that stands sentinel above the front door of the 1912 Pike Starbucks store.)

Sumatra coffee has been on the Starbucks menu since 1971, and the Sumatran tiger which lives on the Indonesian island, has been its symbol ever since its first coffee stamp. To convey its bold and full-bodied flavor, designer and illustrator Abby McCartin used deep-purple colors to emphasize the dark roast of Starbucks® Sumatra with pops of greens and blues along with foil on the tiger stripes and plants.

“I created an interesting effect by adjusting the scale of the tiger in relation to the palm trees and jungle landscape, noting the similarities between shapes of the tiger and palm leaves. Layering them adds an element of fun and mystery; you definitely see the tiger stripes at first glance, but once you look closer you find more,” McCartin said.

Leslie Wolford, who first joined the company as a barista 30 years ago when coffee was still scooped into paper bags, is proud of the new whole-bean packaging and looking forward to seeing it on shelves.

“Everybody brought their ideas and their own expression and elements to the table to bring our coffees to life in a different way,” said Wolford, who is now a coffee/tea development lead for the Coffee team. “I think it's just that evolution of people, partnerships and growth in the company and how we tell our story, and thread that back to who we are as a company and how we're moving forward into the next iteration of what Starbucks is as a brand.”

New packaging designs are available on our <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2021/you-can-still-work-from-starbucks-with-virtual-backgrounds/">Virtual Backgrounds</a> page.

core/separator

Lineup of newly designed Starbucks coffee bags

Starbucks whole-bean coffee packaging has a brand-new look. We’ll go behind the scenes to learn about the inspiration behind the new bag designs.

Introducing the next generation of Starbucks coffee art

Stories to inspire and nurture the human spirit

Starbucks Stories

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2019/01/Photo_TBD-320x411_1-1.jpg

Starbucks Corporation

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2022/08/SBX2022-Packaging-Refresh-Fact-Sheet-FeatureHorizontal.jpg

https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2022/introducing-the-next-generation-of-starbucks-coffee-art/

twitter:card

twitter:description

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2022/08/SBX2022-Packaging-Refresh-Fact-Sheet-FeatureHorizontal-1024x498.jpg

twitter:image

twitter:title

core/list

SEATTLE – Today, Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) announced the creation of the Heritage Market, connecting three of the company’s most iconic and most visited stores and the partners (employees) who lead them, located at 1912 Pike Place (Starbucks original store), 1st &amp; Pike and also 1st &amp; University.

 Together, these three distinct locations in Starbucks hometown of Seattle represent the company’s historic past, present, and its re-imagined future. The three stores will offer an elevated experience, steeped in the rich history of coffee, culture and connection that is synonymous with Starbucks.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Customers who visit these stores will enjoy the Starbucks Experience and also have the opportunity to engage directly with partners through unique coffee craft experiences, cultural immersions and educational opportunities.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Partners at these stores will be uniquely trained in the company’s heritage and hometown to offer regular tours and immersions for customers, and they will serve as ambassadors for the Mission and Values that are the foundation of Starbucks. All partners in these locations will also be able to complete and become fully <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2022/the-coveted-starbucks-coffee-master-black-aprons-return/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">certified Coffee Masters</a> as a part of their training and support. Starbucks highly coveted Coffee Master was recently reintroduced to recognize partners and celebrate their coffee passion as a symbol of Starbucks ongoing commitment to ensuring a sustainable future of high-quality coffee.&nbsp;

“The Heritage Market truly embodies our commitment to reconnect and reimagine our future at Starbucks. This innovative project is a direct result of feedback from our partners who want a closer connection to our heritage along with an enhanced focus on coffee, craft and the local community. We believe the Heritage Market represents a new opportunity to dream, experiment, and co-create the next 50+ years of our future together,” said Cora Carter, district manager for the Seattle market and a 13-year partner who mostly served as the store manager of the 1912 Pike Place store and began her Starbucks career as a barista.

 The original Starbucks store is located at 1912 Pike Place, in the heart of Seattle’s famed Pike Place Market. Hundreds of thousands of customers each year travel to experience a piece of its history and culture, a heritage that has been preserved by our partners perfecting the craft in one of the coffee world’s most recognizable settings. The heart of the store, its iconic history and the partners’ ability to make each customer feel special, draws a daily line of visitors from around the world who want to make the experience part of their own story, whether they are just seeking a cup of great coffee or a life-changing experience, including some who have selected a visit as their “wish” from the Make-A-Wish Foundation.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The store is so beloved by Starbucks partners that two full-scale replicas, exact down to a creaky wooden floorboard near the bar, were built for the Starbucks Leadership Experience in Chicago in 2019 so 12,000 store managers and leaders could experience it. Howard Schultz, Starbucks chief executive officer, also starts many of his days with a visit to the Pike Place store.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Less than a block away, the 1st &amp; Pike Starbucks store opened at the entrance to Seattle’s iconic Pike Place Market in 2009. In the weeks ahead, this store will undergo slight renovations with planned upgrades and enhancements for a heritage-inspired design that harkens back to the mercantile spirit of Starbucks hometown roots while elevating both the partner and customer experience at this unique location.

Just last year, Starbucks opened its newest store concept, called <a href="https://www.starbucks.com/ways-to-order/pickup/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Starbucks Pickup</a>, at the corner of 1st &amp; University. This location is designed for customers who order ahead and pay in the Starbucks app. The store is designed for customers on-the-go with the convenience of mobile ordering while also providing partners with a reimagined workspace to connect directly with customer. It’s focused on a convenient transaction model and a grab and go environment to meet the needs of our on-the-go customers while also offering partners a reimagined workspace to connect directly with customers.

 This newly created Heritage Market offers new ways for partners to grow their career at Starbucks. It was through the direct feedback from partners that the concept was born. At these stores, partners not only encompass the timeless role of the barista, but they also hold a high responsibility of brand stewardship, coffee leadership and excellence in customer engagement. &nbsp;

Since the new Heritage Market was first announced to partners during the week of May 23, 2022, all current partners became eligible to apply to work in these locations, and those who have been selected will learn of their new role in these stores later this week. All current partners continue to have employment opportunity with Starbucks.&nbsp;

Partners have been selected through a competitive process to represent Starbucks in these three stores – offering an elevated pay structure for this more expansive role – and will work in all three locations that comprise the Heritage Market. Over the coming weeks, the stores at 1st &amp; Pike and 1st &amp; University will be temporarily closed while partners are hired and trained, and the necessary store enhancements are made to improve the customer experience.

Through listening and learning together as partners, Starbucks continues to believe it has a role and responsibility in creating a safe and welcoming third place, offering connection, community and care in a world that needs us to come together and support one another like never before. In Seattle and across the U.S., Starbucks continues to work with those who are focused on supporting safe and equitable communities. 

The company’s Outreach Worker pilot program, which is currently active in eight cities across the country including in Seattle in partnership with Catholic Community Services, aims to support store partners in high-incident stores by connecting them to outreach workers who bring expertise in hyper-local social work and can support customers with critical needs, while decreasing non-critical reliance on law enforcement. The pilot program is offered in each of the Heritage Market locations, as well as more broadly in the district, with the intent to help ensure Starbucks stores remain a welcoming “Third Place” for all partners and customers. Further, Starbucks recently announced <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2022/starbucks-expands-efforts-to-support-seattles-chronic-homelessness-crisis/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">nearly a half a million dollars of investments</a> throughout 2022 to help strengthen the company’s hometown and advance solutions to support those experiencing challenges like chronic homelessness in the greater Seattle region.

The Heritage Market comes on the heels of Schultz’s return as ceo of Starbucks, and a journey to reinvent the future of the company through co-creation with Starbucks partners. Starbucks <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2022/highlights-from-starbucks-1-billion-partner-store-investments-and-the-story-behind-them/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">recently announced</a> $1 billion in additional partner and store investments this year, with a focus on modernizing training and collaboration, store innovation, and the celebration of coffee. As part of that commitment, the company has launched <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM1wOKU2q6Y" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a series of collaboration sessions</a> directly with partners, aimed to re-imagine the future of the company, together. The Heritage Market is a continuation and a celebration of that commitment.&nbsp;

Since 1971, Starbucks Coffee Company has been committed to ethically sourcing and roasting high-quality arabica coffee. Today, with more than 34,000 stores worldwide, the company is the premier roaster and retailer of specialty coffee in the world. Through our unwavering commitment to excellence and our guiding principles, we bring the unique Starbucks Experience to life for every customer through every cup. To share in the experience, please visit us in our stores or online at stories.starbucks.com or <a href="http://www.starbucks.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">www.starbucks.com</a>&nbsp;

The Heritage Market is a direct result of partner (employee) feedback asking for a closer connection to Starbucks heritage and an enhanced focus on coffee, craft, community and culture.

Starbucks Unveils Heritage Market, With Three Seattle Hometown Stores

Starbucks Unveils Heritage Market, With Three Seattle Hometown Stores Dedicated to Honoring Past, Present and Future of Coffee and Community 

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2022/06/SBX2022621-Pike-Place-Market.jpg

https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2022/starbucks-unveils-heritage-market-with-three-seattle-hometown-stores-dedicated-to-honoring-past-present-and-future-of-coffee-and-community/

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2022/06/SBX2022621-Pike-Place-Market-1024x498.jpg

Pike Place Market

Pike Place Market - Starbucks Stories

Home

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2019/01/Starbucks_Logo_Hi-res.jpg

https://stories.starbucks.com/tag/pike-place-market/

English

Our aspiration is to be people positive—investing in humanity and the well-being of everyone we connect with, from our partners to coffee farmers to the customers in our stores and beyond.

People

Planet

Coffee is at our heart, inspiring our craft and driving innovation—in our drinks, our food, our stores and new ways we bring the Starbucks experience to you wherever you are.