Starbucks to sell Sangju shine muscat drink at 122 small-business cafes nationwide

Starbucks Korea announced it will begin selling its eighth co-prosperity drink, the Sangju Shine Muscat Ade — made with shine muscat grapes from Sangju, North Gyeongsang Province — at 122 small-business cafes across the country starting Tuesday, including locations in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, Busan, Gwangju and Incheon.

The Sangju Shine Muscat Ade is a sparkling beverage developed by Starbucks' beverage team using locally grown shine muscat grapes. It combines the sweet, refreshing flavor of the fruit with the texture of aloe vera.

Starbucks provided the 122 participating small-business cafes with recipes and raw ingredients free of charge — enough to produce 60,000 cups. The drink will also be available at nine talent-donation cafes supported by Starbucks.

In March 2022, Starbucks became the first company in the coffee industry to sign a "cafe industry co-prosperity agreement" with the Commission for Corporate Partnership and the National Cafe Owners Cooperative. Since then, it has supported co-prosperity drink development, helped cafes recover from natural disasters, and funded improvements to aging cafe facilities. Including this eighth edition, the program has supplied about 500,000 cups of co-prosperity drinks since 2022, benefiting a total of 1,120 cafes.

Alongside the latest rollout, Starbucks delivered 30 million won ($22,400) in facility maintenance support funds. Total co-prosperity support payments to date have reached 1 billion won.

Starbucks Korea CEO Shin Dong-woo said the company would continue its co-prosperity efforts with small-business cafe owners by drawing on its beverage development capabilities and other resources. "We will build a sustainable co-prosperity model in which local farms and small-business cafes can grow together," he said.