Starbucks Celebrates 20 Years Of The Frappuccino With Limited-Edition Birthday Cake Flavor
In honor of the 20th anniversary of the Frappuccino, first introduced in 1995 and now available in more than 36,000 drink combinations in 66 countries, Starbucks announced that it will celebrate with a limited-edition Birthday Cake Frappuccino.
Available at Starbucks locations in the United States and Canada, the Birthday Cake Frappuccino — vanilla bean and hazelnut, topped with raspberry-infused whipped cream — will be in stores from March 26 until March 30.
According to Starbucks lore, the original drink was an outright game-changer, hitting exponential sales numbers from the start — the team predicted sales of 100,000 drinks in the first week, and reached 200,000.
"The next week it was 400,000 and the next it was 800,000," described Dan Moore, a former manager of one of the company's California locations, who began testing early versions of the blended beverage in a single store in Sherman Oaks. "We had figured it would do well in Southern California — but it sold just as well in Chicago, Vancouver, B.C., and Boston. It was huge."
"Its story epitomizes the enterprising spirit we still have at Starbucks," Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz wrote in his book, Pour Your Heart Into It. "It's experimental. It's adventurous. It fires people up and engages their imagination."