Starbucks Class Action Says Venti Drinks Need More Caffeine

A California resident claims that not all Starbucks venti drinks contain more caffeine than their grande counterparts, and has filed a class action lawsuit against the coffee chain saying that this inconsistency is misleading customers.

The Starbucks caffeine content class action lawsuit was filed by Teresa Adams who says she purchased a venti Pumpkin Spice Latte from a Starbucks on Nov. 20, 2019 in California.

She says that the venti size (Starbuck’s large size) did not contain more caffeine than the smaller, grande size, and instead just contained more steamed milk. She argues that this information is not made available in the store or in the drive-thru. 

According to Adams, she made her purchase at the drive-thru, and read the menu prior to purchasing her drink. She says that by purchasing the venti size, she believed she would be getting a drink with more espresso, and therefore more caffeine, than the next size smaller, which is a grande size.

However, the Starbucks venti drink class action lawsuit says there was the same amount of espresso in the venti as there was in the grande size (150 mg). As a result, the Starbucks coffee class action lawsuit argues that Adams paid a higher price — $5.45 — for a diluted version of a Pumpkin Spice Latte. 

The Starbucks class action points to other Starbucks beverages that don’t contain proportional amounts of caffeine including: Cappuccino, Caramel Cloud Macchiato, Caffe Latte, Cinnamon Dolce Latte, Cocoa Cloud Macchiato, Vanilla Bean Coconutmilk Latte, and White Chocolate Mocha.

Reportedly, all these Starbucks venti drinks contain the same amount of caffeine content as their grande sized versions.

“Starbucks engages in a classic bait-and-switch scheme that causes unsuspecting consumers to shell out more money for the larger, venti-sized, espresso beverages under the false belief that the venti-sized espresso beverage contains more espresso, and thus more caffeine, than the medium grande-sized drinks,” the Starbucks class action states.

Adams says she would not have purchased the venti-sized Pumpkin Spice Latte had she been aware of the true caffeine and espresso content of the beverage. She is seeking damages not only for herself, but for similarly affected individuals, arguing that Starbucks misleads many customers in this fashion.

The Starbucks espresso content class action lawsuit explains that Starbucks sells drinks in three sizes — tall (12 fluid ounces) grande (16 fluid ounces) and venti (20 fluid ounces). Allegedly, customers expect that as these drinks increase in size, they increase in their espresso content, which would also increase their caffeine content.

This is not the case, asserts Adams. She says that Starbucks does not inform drive-thru or in-store customers of this fact, and only advertises it on the Starbucks website. 

According to Adams, customers are misled by the lack of labeling as some venti drinks do contain more espresso and caffeine than their grande counterparts. As a result, customers may reasonably assume that all drinks increase in coffee content, and make a purchasing decision based on this assumption.

The Starbucks false advertising class action lawsuit argues that no reasonable customer would purchase the venti size if they knew it contained the same amount of caffeine than the smaller size, because the value of the drink lies in the coffee.

What size coffee do you order at Starbucks? Let us know in the comments section below.

Adams is represented by Todd D. Carpenter, Jae K. Kim and Scott G. Braden of Carlson Lynch LLP.

The Starbucks Venti-Sized Beverage Coffee Content Class Action Lawsuit is Teresa Adams v. Starbucks Corporation, et al., Case No. 8:20-cv-00225, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

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