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Alcohol On Starbucks Menu: Utah Grants Sales License To Five Stores

By Manasi Gandhi
Published on: 02:42 PST, Feb 25, 2016

If you are in Utah, you may be served alcohol on your next visit to Starbucks. The coffee giant has been granted a sales license to bring alcohol on its menu in five of its Utah stores.

Starbucks, which happens to be a part of life for many, has been growing the number of Evenings stores, a program that sells small plates of food with alcoholic drinks like wine and beer. There are around 250 Evenings stores in the U.S. at present.

The Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control approved Starbucks’ liquor license on Tuesday. The license that would cover five Utah locations. Starbucks is the first company to apply for a master license since the master license legislature was enacted in Utah in 2014, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

Starbucks would be required to get the license approved by the state, which controls the sale of alcohol, although the license covers additional stores. Vickie Ashby of the DABC said Starbucks still needs local approval for some of the Evenings locations but said most of the state-level requirements have been met.

In Utah, it is difficult to obtain a liquor license because the alcohol permits distribution is based on population quota. Due to the fact that its decision would set a precedent for future license approvals, the state’s alcohol board decided to delay its ruling in 2015 and met with lawmakers.

As part of the Utah license requirement, 70 percent of Starbucks’ sales must come from something other than alcohol. Starbucks officials told theUtah commission they will easily meet the ratio. Managers say they only expect to serve 10 to 12 glasses of beer or wine a day at each location. Starbucks district manager Lucas Wood said,

“Our intention with our Utah evening stores, is to expand the food and beverage menu without creating a drinking atmosphere.”

Shannon Boldizsar, the Starbucks’ senior manager for government and community affairs, told the commission that customers will order at the counter and have their food and beverages delivered to their table by servers. Wine and beer service will start in the afternoon and will end 30 minutes before closing, which is 10 p.m. on weekdays and 11 p.m. on weekends, she said. Alcohol will not be sold to go or at the drive-up windows.

The five stores must remodel to increase the kitchen and food preparation areas and create a Zion Curtain, which is a state-mandated liquor dispensing area where alcohol is stored and dispensed out of sight from customers. Consequently, the Starbuck’s beer and wine service won’t begin immediately.

Starbucks didn’t comment on the roll-out date for its new specialty stores. A Starbucks spokeswoman told CNBC that the company wants to broaden the range of products and experiences for each neighborhood.

She said, “Just as each customer is unique, so are our stores and we consider a broad range of products and experiences for each neighborhood. And, as you’ve seen, we’re in the very early stages of bringing our Evenings menu to Utah. It’s a long and thoughtful process, and the permit filing is just one of many steps we take.”

The Utah commission’s decision granted the last five limited-service restaurant licenses available in the state to Starbucks and four other Utah restaurants. Two more businesses that had applied for the beer and wine permits did not get the license.

Commissioner Neal Berube, who is the president and CEO of Associated Food Stores, which works with Starbucks, recused himself from the vote due to conflict of interest. The three remaining commissioners in attendance voted in favor of the proposal while expressing reservations about giving a major fast-food chain a liquor license.

Chairman John T. Nielsen said, “We have concerns that we might see a proliferation of this. But it ought to be clearly understood, that this is not to be considered a precedent, that we will review applications in the future on a case-by-case basis.”

The participating Starbucks that will serve alcohol are located in Salt Lake City, Holladay, Farmington, Lehi, and Park City.

[Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images]

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