The seasonal drink that made pumpkin spice a star is turning 20. And unlike the autumn days it celebrates, there seems to be no chill in customer demand.
StarbucksB次元官网网址� Pumpkin Spice Latte goes on sale Thursday in the U.S. and Canada, as it does each year when the nights start getting longer and the fall winds gather. ItB次元官网网址檚 the coffee giantB次元官网网址檚 most popular seasonal beverage, with hundreds of millions sold since its launch in 2003. And it has produced a huge B次元官网网址� and growing B次元官网网址� industry of imitators flecked with cinnamon, nutmeg and clove.
In the year ending July 29, U.S. sales of pumpkin-flavored products reached $802.5 million, according to Nielsen. ThatB次元官网网址檚 up 42% from the same period in 2019.
There are pumpkin spice Oreos, protein drinks, craft beers, cereals and even Spam. A search of B次元官网网址減umpkin spiceB次元官网网址� on WalmartB次元官网网址檚 website brings up more than 1,000 products. A thousand products that smell or taste like, well, pumpkin pie.
For better B次元官网网址� and, some might say, for worse B次元官网网址� the phenomenon has moved beyond coffee shops and groceries and into the larger world. Great Wolf Lodge is featuring a Pumpkin Spice Suite at five of its resorts this fall, decked out with potpourri, pumpkin throw pillows and bottomless pumpkin spice lattes.
It has also spawned a vocal group of detractors B次元官网网址� and become an easy target for parodies. Comedian John Oliver once called pumpkin spice lattes B次元官网网址渢he coffee that tastes like a candle.B次元官网网址� ThereB次元官网网址檚 a Facebook group called B次元官网网址淚 Hate Pumpkin SpiceB次元官网网址� and T-shirts with slogans like B次元官网网址淎inB次元官网网址檛 no pumpkin spice in my mug.B次元官网网址�
The haters, though, appear to be in the minority.
Last year, Starbucks said sales of its pumpkin spice drinks B次元官网网址� including newer offerings like Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew B次元官网网址� were up 17% in the July-September period. And in a 2022 study of 20,000 Twitter and Instagram posts mentioning pumpkin spice, just 8% were negative, according to researchers at Montclair State University in New Jersey.
BEFORE THE LATTE: WHAT PUMPKIN SPICE WAS
It wasnB次元官网网址檛 always this way.
Canned pumpkin and pie spices were relegated to the baking aisle when Starbucks began experimenting with an autumn drink that would replicate the success of the Peppermint Mocha, which took the winter holidays by storm in 2002. Customer surveys suggested chocolate or caramel drinks, but Starbucks noticed that pumpkin scored high for B次元官网网址渦niqueness.B次元官网网址� That would turn out to be prescient.
In the spring of 2003, a team gathered in a lab in StarbucksB次元官网网址� Seattle headquarters, bringing fall decorations to set the mood. They sipped espresso between bites of pumpkin pie, figuring out which spices most complemented the coffee. After three months, they offered taste tests; pumpkin spice beat out chocolate and caramel drinks.
Starbucks tested the Pumpkin Spice Latte in 100 stores in Washington, D.C., and Vancouver, British Columbia, that fall. The company quickly realized it had a winner and rolled it out across the United States and Canada the following fall.
And in 2015, a watershed: The company added real pumpkin to the recipe.
These days, StarbucksB次元官网网址� Pumpkin Spice Latte has its own handle on X B次元官网网址� formerly known as Twitter B次元官网网址� with 82,000 followers, and a Facebook fan group called the Leaf Rakers Society with 43,000 members. And it has fans like Jon McBrine, who drinks black iced coffee for most of the year but eagerly awaits the latteB次元官网网址檚 return each fall.
B次元官网网址淚 love the flavor and I love the subculture that has evolved from this huge marketing campaign,B次元官网网址� says McBrine, a graphic designer and aspiring author who lives in the Dallas area.
ItB次元官网网址檚 hot through the end of October where he lives, so McBrine typically orders his with ice. But at least once a year, he gets a hot latte, savoring memories of the autumns of his childhood in Delaware.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 part of getting into the season,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 almost like a ritual, even if youB次元官网网址檙e just waiting in the drive-thru.B次元官网网址�
THE PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE AS SENSORY EXPERIENCE
Jason Fischer, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University who studies human perception through sight, sound and smell, says odor and flavor have a more direct route than other senses to the area of the brain that processes memories.
ThatB次元官网网址檚 due to evolution; humans needed to remember which foods were safe to eat. But it means smells and memories are closely linked.
Still, he said, peopleB次元官网网址檚 sense of smell can be malleable. In experiments, subjects have taken a sniff of something and described it in many different ways. But when theyB次元官网网址檙e shown a label for that smell B次元官网网址� say, B次元官网网址減umpkin spiceB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� their perceptions shift and their descriptions become more similar.
B次元官网网址淥dors and sights go with certain places, like the aroma of pine and the crunching of needles beneath your feet,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檙e associated with a certain kind of experience. And then marketing taps into that, and itB次元官网网址檚 a cue for a product.B次元官网网址�
Pumpkin spice doesnB次元官网网址檛 conjure happy memories for everyone. Kari-Jane Roze, who lives in Fredericton, Canada, loves many things about autumn, including back-to-school routines, changing leaves and hockey. But sheB次元官网网址檚 not a fan of pumpkin pie or pumpkin bread B次元官网网址� and she has a particular dislike for pumpkin spice lattes.
B次元官网网址淭he artificial flavor is disgusting,B次元官网网址� says Roze, who works at New Brunswick Community College. B次元官网网址淭he only thing I do not like about fall is seeing everyone obsess over PSLs. Makes me want to shut off social media for a month.B次元官网网址�
She wonB次元官网网址檛 have to deal with those B次元官网网址淧SLsB次元官网网址� for long. The limited-time nature of the product is another thing that keeps customers hooked, marketing experts say. Last year, StarbucksB次元官网网址� holiday-themed drinks arrived on Nov. 3.
And then, for devoted fans, the wait begins anew.
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