Starbucks, Dunkin' unveil holiday menu lineup

The holiday season is officially here, according to Starbucks (SBUX) and Dunkin'.

Both coffee chains unveiled their holiday menus this week, with a variety of new items added.

Starbucks announced the return of its popular holiday beverage, the Peppermint Mocha, for the 20th year. The Peppermint Mocha will be joined by its newer cohorts, the Caramel Brulee Latte, Chestnut Praline Latte, and Toasted White Chocolate Mocha. Despite cold temperatures outside, cold beverages are still in demand at the coffee giant, thus the return of the Iced Sugar Cookie Almondmilk Latte and the Irish Cream Cold Brew.

The only newcomer to the lineup this year is a treat, the Chocolate Pistachio Swirl, alongside the return of other treats like the Reindeer Cake Pop, Sugar Plum Cheese Danish, Cranberry Bliss Bar, and Snowman Cookie.

Over at Dunkin', there are additional new treats, including the sweet Cookie Butter Cold Brew, Cookie Butter Donut, and a Pancake Wake Up Wrap, alongside the return of its Peppermint Mocha Signature Latte and a Toasted White Chocolate Signature Latte.

Dunkin' is also offering a Holiday Blend Coffee and Cranberry Orange Muffin for a limited time.

Jill McVicar Nelson, Chief Marketing Officer at Dunkin’, is optimistic about the debut. In a recent release, Nelson said, "we hope that both our classic and new menu items, like the Cookie Butter Cold Brew and Pancake Wake-Up Wrap, will excite Dunkin’ fans and power them to make the most of every minute this season.”

Limited-time offerings seem to perform well for both the coffee giants. In their recent earnings call, Starbucks noted the launch of their pumpkin spice latte led to the biggest sales in Starbucks' history during the month of September.

According to data intelligence platform Placer.ai, both chains saw foot traffic spike "in correlation with the fall-themed menu releases" with this year being the highest jump on a three-year basis. This year at Starbucks, foot traffic was up 27.5% for the 7 days following the launch, compared to an average week. That's compared to 14.0% in 2019. Dunkin' also saw a jump, up 9.5% in 2022, compared to 6.7% in 2019.

Starbucks CFO Rachel Ruggeri recently joined Yahoo Finance Live to discuss the company's earnings and weighed in on expectations for its holiday menu after helping one location set up for the holiday herself.

"There was a lot of excitement as we were unpacking the boxes and looking at the Starbucks cards and talking about the food ... our partners were excited ... I think that gives me a lot of encouragement that we're going to continue to see a great holiday, similar to what we saw in the fall, but time will tell."

Brooke DiPalma is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter at @BrookeDiPalma or email her at [email protected].

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