Got latte?
A battle is brewing as fast food chains target coffee concoction
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RedEye
Melissa Singson, 25, starts her morning with breakfast: no cereal, just a latte.
"It's pretty much the only time of day I get my calcium," said Singson, who lives in Streeterville.
The Northwestern law school student said she orders up the combination
of espresso and steamed milk at least twice a day and supplements her
caffeine addiction with regular coffee throughout the day.
While she said it gets expensive to drink lattes all the time, she finds her preferred coffee drink comforting.
"It feels like the day's not that bad. It's going to be OK," she said.
Lattes are getting a whole lotta love these days, and they've become
part of the new battleground in the war between popular coffee and fast
food chains.
Starbucks is pairing lattes with oatmeal and coffee cake for $3.95
starting Tuesday. McDonald's has been luring Chicago coffee drinkers
with free 8-ounce lattes on "McCafe Mondays." The fast food giant's
promotion began in December to expose people to its specialty coffee
line and runs through April 13.
Dunkin' Donuts is getting in on the action. Last fall, Dunkin' launched
"America's Latte Break," selling a small afternoon latte for 99 cents.
The latte has become the top-ordered espresso-based drink at Starbucks, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz told RedEye Monday.
"When we came to Chicago in the late '80s, very few, if any, people
knew what a cafe latte was when they came into our stores. In fact, the
most popular drink in our stores was a cappuccino, because that's what
people knew," he said.
"So over the course of almost 20 years, we have educated the country
and really changed the culture around espresso-based beverages, and the
signature drink was the cafe latte. And certainly the popularity of
that drink has grown significantly in large part because of Starbucks,"
Schultz said.
The number of restaurant chains offering lattes and specialty coffee on
their menus has grown in the past year, according to Technomic
Information Services, a Chicago-based food service consultant. But
consumer willingness to pay as much as $4 for specialty coffee is
waning, said Sara Monnette, Technomic's senior manager of consumer and
market research.
That's where chains, like McDonald's, are stepping in with lower-priced
alternatives and trying to get a taste of that business, she said. She
said she expects to see more promotions offered to draw in customers to
sample specialty coffee drinks.
Price is a selling point for coffee drinkers like Chris Stortenbecker,
26, a teacher who lives in West Rogers Park. "Lately I've been drinking
coffee mostly because it's stronger caffeine-wise and it's cheaper," he
said.
But while a latte is more expensive than a regular cup of joe, it still
is a reasonable drink option, said Kristin Figard, 26, a musician who
lives in Evanston. "I like the price, and it has a flavor without it
being too strong," Figard said.
The number of people trying lattes probably is growing now that lattes
are more widely offered, said Matt Milletto, vice president of
Bellissimo Coffee InfoGroup, a specialty coffee consultant based in
Portland, Ore.
Even though lattes are becoming more mainstream and espresso drinks are
popular, it's hard to find comparative data to show whether there has
been an increase in sales or orders of lattes in particular. Still,
items in the specialty coffee category, which includes lattes, were
ordered 10 percent more often in 2008 than in 2007, according to NPD
Group, a market research company.
The specialty coffee market is growing while overall coffee consumption is not, said Harry Balzer, vice president of NPD Group.
But coffee industry insiders are concerned about the quality as specialty coffee becomes more automated and mass produced.
At the same time fast food-type companies compete with Starbucks,
independent retailers are focusing on "high-quality, high-standard
beverages," Milletto said.
There's a difference in quality among fast-food chain restaurants and independent coffee houses, he said.
"A good latte starts with excellent espresso blend, good quality milk
and, most importantly, a well-trained barista," said Milletto, also
director of the American Barista & Coffee School in Portland.
And taste matters, especially to latte drinker Karen Parker, 41. "It
just tastes better, a creamy taste. I don't like the taste of coffee,
black coffee," said Parker, who lives in the Gold Coast.
As coffee drinkers judge lattes on taste, coffee experts judged lattes
on appearance at Coffee Fest's Millrock Free Pour Latte Art
Championship last month at Navy Pier.
Competitor Matt Gasaway, 20, a Columbia College student, was a finalist
in the competition. He said he got plenty of practice pouring tulip and
rosetta designs for his customers at the Italian Coffee Bar in
Streeterville and Evanston, where he works.
Lattes are easy to drink, the barista said, if they're sweet and not
bitter. Making a perfect latte at the right temperature and with the
right combination of milk and foam is the crucial step to creating
latte art, Gasaway said.
"Some people have said it's too beautiful to drink, and I say, 'I only hope it tastes as fantastic as it looks.' "
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