SEATTLE _ Starbucks is hoping some fancy eggs will get more people to buy food at its coffee shops.
Starting Tuesday, the Seattle-based coffee chain will be offering Sous Vide Egg Bites, named after the sous vide cooking technique in which vacuum-sealed food is immersed in a water bath and cooked at a precise temperature over a long period of time.
The technique, used at fine-dining restaurants for a while now, is slowly gaining popularity among home cooks who have money to spend on a sous vide machine.
Starbucks said it noticed the trend and thought about how to apply it to creating a protein-packed, low-carb breakfast, which customers were asking for.
The sous vide technique results in "eggs that are creamy and almost velvety in texture," said Starbucks, which will offer the egg bites in two flavors: bacon-and-gruyere and egg white-and-roasted red pepper.
Starbucks has sought for years to get people to buy more food at its stores, seeing it as a way of driving both foot traffic and sales throughout the day rather than just during the big morning rush.
Last year, it invested in high-end Italian bakery Princi, with plans to open Princi stores and to carry Princi foods in its Roastery showcases and a new line of Starbucks stores.
The company said last year that food sales accounted for 20 percent of its U.S. sales.
