Starbucks Tested a 100% Plant-Based Store at an Undisclosed Location

Please tell us if you know where it was.

A Starbucks breakfast sandwich.
Starbucks
Starbucks

Starbucks has been expanding its plant-based offerings for quite some time, adding alt milks and vegan options to locations all over the world. And now it’s slipped that the green behemoth toyed with an exclusively plant-based menu at one location in greater Seattle, according to Restaurant Business Online

“We use that as sort of a test area when we innovate, create things here in our support center,” RBO quoted Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson as saying. “The No. 1 trend that I would highlight here is just the consumer shift and consumer preferences around plant-based.”

When reached by Thrillist, Starbucks reps would only “confirm that Starbucks tested a variety of plant-based items at one store near Seattle last year,” and that the test has “since concluded” at press time.  

So where in the Emerald City area was this plants-only location? Did it look like a standard Starbucks, or was it more appropriately fashioned after a Rainforest Cafe? Were Seattle’s denizens aware that they were in the midst of a history-making location? Was it fully operational and open to the public, or more of a Wonka situation?

We have reached back out to Starbucks with—well, not the above questions, exactly, but more professional-sounding ones—and we will update when we hear back.

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