Ex-Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz admits he once shunned the Frappuccino

• Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz was initially opposed to introducing the Frappuccino.
• Schultz worried that customers wouldn't get the 'essence of Starbucks' from the drink.

The Frappuccino has become one of Starbucks' most famous beverages. But early on, it had a notable critic: then-CEO Howard Schultz.

The beverage, which consists of chilled coffee and ice blended together, initially seemed to Schultz like a deviation from Starbucks' goal of offering high-quality coffee. But 28 years after its introduction, Schultz admitted in an interview with journalist Graham Bensinger that he misjudged the Frappuccino.

"I think Frappuccino is a great example of Howard Schultz being 100% incorrect, wrong and on the wrong side of the debate," Schultz said in the interview. Schultz ended his latest stint as the coffee chain's top executive after stepping down earlier this year.

The Frappuccino grew out of an idea in Southern California and an acquisition that Starbucks made

The Frappuccino's origins go back to 1993, according to a 2015 post on Starbucks' website. That year, an employee at a Southern California Starbucks named Dina Campion convinced higher-ups to send a blender her way so that the store could start making blended coffee drinks.

"We noticed there were some smaller coffee shops that did some sort of blended coffee beverage," Campion said according to the 2015 post. The drink expanded to additional stores in Southern California over the following year.

In 1994, Starbucks acquired Coffee Connection, a chain of coffee shops owned by George Howell, a Starbucks skeptic. As part of the deal, Starbucks acquired the rights to the "Frappuccino," which Coffee Connection served as a cold coffee beverage made in a soft-serve ice cream machine, according to Starbucks.

At this point, Starbucks had all the pieces it needed to roll out the Frappuccino nationally. Proponents of the beverage said it was a great way to get younger consumers in the door at Starbucks, as well as customers who wanted something other than plain-old coffee.

Schultz worried that the Frappuccino would ruin 'the essence of Starbucks' for new customers

But Schultz wasn't sold on it.

"We started tasting it, and I, as a purist, said, 'Why do we want to do this? We don't want to be a Frappuccino company, we're a coffee company,'" Schultz told Bensinger in the interview. "I also was afraid that people would be introduced to Frappuccino first and never quite get the essence of Starbucks."

Despite Schultz's reluctance, Starbucks started serving Frappuccinos across the US and Canada in 1995. That summer, Frappuccinos made up 11% of Starbucks' sales.

In 1996, Starbucks introduced a bottled, ready-to-drink Frappuccino, according to industry website Beverage Online. Bottled Fraps alone have since grown into a billion-dollar business, Schultz told Bensinger.

Today, cold drinks are about 75% of Starbucks' sales. Gen Z customers in particular are opting for chilled options over traditional hot coffee. The drinks also now come in flavors from mocha cookie crumble to coffee-free matcha creme.

"It turned out that Frappuccino became a multibillion-dollar business for Starbucks," Schultz told Bensinger.

"So, I was wrong, and it kinda taught me a great lesson: Truly, the customer was always right," he added.