The news: Landing a spot on Starbucks’ shelves can significantly boost brand awareness for emerging snack makers, per Bloomberg.

• After Khloé Kardashian’s Khloud kettle corn protein popcorn debuted at Starbucks in January, sales of the product accelerated at Target and nearly doubled on Amazon the following month.
• Mush saw a similar halo effect, with sales rising across other channels after Starbucks began carrying its overnight oats in April.

Why is this happening? Each of Starbucks’ roughly 10,000 US locations carries only about 30 items. That scarcity turns placement into a powerful signal, which can act as a “stamp of approval” that encourages consumers to try a product and can influence other retailers, Mush CEO Ashley Thompson told Bloomberg.

The limited assortment also creates spillover demand. Because Starbucks typically carries just one or two SKUs—and often charges a premium—shoppers who discover a product at Starbucks are likely to seek out other varieties elsewhere, often at lower prices.

Implications for brands: In a fragmented media environment, there are multiple ways to build brand awareness. While most brands won’t land on Starbucks’ shelves, the sales bump seen by Khloud and Mush suggests showing up in the right physical spaces—whether coffee shops, specialty retailers, or experiential pop-ups—can signal credibility and drive trial.

With consumer attention so dispersed, brands need multiple entry points to break through the noise. That can come from influencer seeding, limited-time collaborations, or product drops that tap into cultural moments and generate buzz.

The goal is to spark discovery, then deliver a product that brings consumers back, whether through broader distribution, more variety, or better pricing.

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