PepsiCo partnered with Starbucks to distribute bottled Frappuccino beverages through the North American Coffee Partnership.
The partnership began in 1994 and combined Starbucks’ coffeehouse brand with PepsiCo’s large-scale beverage distribution network. The bottled product was inspired by the blended Frappuccino drink sold in Starbucks cafés, but it was packaged as a chilled, ready-to-drink beverage for stores outside the coffeehouse chain.
The arrangement helped Starbucks enter supermarkets, convenience stores, and other retail channels. Bottled Frappuccino became one of the company’s most recognizable consumer products and is distinct from a café-made Frappuccino, which is blended and served by baristas.
The partnership is sometimes confused with later Starbucks agreements involving other packaged products. Nestlé became a major global licensed distributor of Starbucks consumer-packaged coffee in 2018, but PepsiCo remains the key partner associated with bottled Frappuccino in North America.