Starbucks launched bottled Frappuccino beverages in 1996.
The bottled version extended Starbucks’ blended coffee brand beyond its cafés and into refrigerated retail displays. Starbucks developed the product with PepsiCo, creating a ready-to-drink beverage that could be sold in supermarkets, convenience stores, vending locations, and other outlets. This arrangement helped turn the Frappuccino name into a major packaged-drink brand.
The café Frappuccino had appeared earlier, in the 1990s, after Starbucks acquired The Coffee Connection. The bottled product was a separate retail format rather than simply a café drink poured into a bottle. It was designed for portability and longer distribution through PepsiCo’s bottling network.
People sometimes confuse the launch date of bottled Frappuccino with the introduction of the blended café beverage. They are different milestones: the café drink came first, while the bottled product arrived in 1996. The partnership also became one of Starbucks’ most important consumer-products relationships.