Starbucks Is Finally Ditching Its Divisive Olive Oil Coffee Drinks

In just under a year, one of Starbucks most out of the box beverage creations has slid down a slippery slope and off the menu. The coffee chain has made the decision to eliminate its line of olive oil infused coffee beverages starting in early November. The drinks to be axed from the menu include the Oleato Golden Foam Iced Shaken Espresso with Toffeenut and Oleato Caffè Latte with Oatmilk. Starbucks also currently offers customers the option to customize their cold coffee drinks with Oleato Golden Foam, a vanilla sweet cream, infused with Partanna extra virgin olive oil. 

The drinks made their nationwide debut at the end of January of this year, but public opinion was less than enthusiastic from the beginning. Joining in the exit of the olive oil drink is also the Toffeenut syrup at Starbucks and the up-charge for non-dairy milks. All of these changes are part of the company's new CEO, Brian Niccol's plan to streamline what he considers an "overly complex" menu. Although it still falls in line with Niccol's plans, the decision to get rid of the Oleato line was made before he took on the role in September. The olive oil-infused options are set to be eliminated from all U.S. and Canada Starbucks menus on November 7, which is also when the chain plans to launch its holiday drink menu.

Reviews of the olive oil drinks ranged from bad to somewhat tolerable, so it's not a complete shock that Starbucks has made the decision to get rid of the drinks. The Oleato beverages had a rocky rollout to begin with, though public opinion didn't seem to sway the brand at the time.

At first, the drinks debuted in February 2023 and only in Italy. Starbucks called the drinks the "next revolution of coffee," with the now former CEO, Howard Schultz, having been inspired by the Italian practice of consuming a tablespoon of olive oil a day. Starbucks chose to use Partanna Olive Oil, a cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil produced in Partanna, Sicily. After the Italian launch, Starbucks began slowly rolling out the drinks in March 2023 in select U.S. cities and states.

Unfortunately, customers didn't just dislike the combination of olive oil and coffee, some even complained about the drinks causing painful stomach issues. Some online commenters said the drinks had them running to the bathroom.