Starbucks Korea has unveiled its eighth “shared growth” beverage — a Sangju Shine Muscat Ade crafted with locally sourced grapes from North Gyeongsang Province — as part of an ongoing initiative to help independent coffee shops boost sales and sharpen their competitive edge.

The company held a handover ceremony Aug. 3 at its Seoul support center, attended by officials from the Korea Commission for Corporate Partnership and a national cooperative representing independent cafe owners.

Starbucks launched the program in March 2022, becoming the first coffee company to sign a "cafe industry shared growth agreement" with the Korea Commission for Corporate Partnership and the cafe owners' cooperative.

Under the agreement, Starbucks has developed and shared drink recipes using local agricultural products, supported recovery efforts after natural disasters and helped improve aging cafe facilities. Over the past five years, the company said it has provided about 1 billion won ($694,000) in related funding.

The shared drinks have become known as an effective way for Starbucks to pass along its beverage development knowledge to small cafes.

The company's fifth such drink, a yuja-plum ade, sold out early amid strong customer response, and participating cafes reported meaningful gains in sales and foot traffic, according to Starbucks.

The new ade combines Shine Muscat's sweet-tart flavor with a topping of aloe vera for texture, developed by the company's beverage team to be both refreshing in late-summer heat and broadly appealing.

Small cafes seeking to take part in the program can find recruitment details in August through the cafe owners' cooperative's Naver Cafe page and other channels for small business cafes.

Starbucks will provide free recipes and ingredients for a combined 60,000 cups to 150 selected small cafes.

The drink will go on sale at those cafes starting in September, with participating locations and exact launch dates to be announced later through the Korea Commission for Corporate Partnership's KakaoTalk channel and Starbucks' website and mobile app.

Including this eighth round, Starbucks has provided ingredients for a cumulative 476,000 cups since 2022, benefiting 1,120 small cafes in total.

Along with the drink program, Starbucks also donated 30 million won toward facility repairs for small cafes, intended to help improve aging or flood-damaged spaces.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.