Getting a fun drink before school is a “necessity” for many girls. Sipping on a refresher, an energy drink, or a coffee makes hard classes more enjoyable. Starbucks has always been popular among high school girls, and most likely it always will be. However, a new Starbucks competitor has made its mark on the girls of Benilde-St. Margaret’s: EP Power.
EP Power has many unique drinks like protein coffee, energy teas, protein shakes, smoothies, protein cake pops, and more. You will most definitely see high school students carrying energy teas. The variety of tea flavors is astonishing. These teas have a shot of aloe, B12 energy liftoffs, and other vitamins and minerals added. Although teenagers probably don’t know what any of that means, having a “healthy” drink in hand seems appealing. “There’s more variety than Starbucks, they’re always coming out with new flavors, and also it’s overall better for you,” sophomore Daniela Johannson said.
At Starbucks, you just order your drink and wait to pick it up. As simple and easy as that. Starbucks has a commonly used mobile app that allows customers to earn reward points better known as “stars” with every order. However, stars only give buyers a small discount. On the other hand, EP Power is a completely different story. After ordering your drink, you can create an account, download an app, and win various kinds of rewards. Special days like “double stamp Thursdays”, “super size Saturdays”, and “two tea Tuesdays” make customers excited to come back. Additions like this make the experience more fun and draw people back in to claim their rewards. “There is the spin the wheel daily, daily raffles, and a stamp me app where you stamp something and you can get rewards [like a free drink],” junior Taylor Winegarner said.
The nutritional benefits of their items do however make EP Power pretty expensive. $6 for a drink at Starbucks is crazy enough for many high school students, and a $8 drink at EP Power can be too costly. All these crazy health benefits even scare some students because they have no idea what they are drinking. The food options at EP Power are limited and sometimes don’t provide students with the breakfast they need for school. With just protein balls and cake pops, Starbucks may seem like the more appealing option for students in the morning when they need a filling meal like a breakfast sandwich, egg bites, a croissant, etc. “EP Power is powdery. It has zero calories which makes me question what they put in it and the Starbucks food options are way better,” junior Elle Montague said.
The debate between these two popular places will continue throughout the school year as more students are influenced to try out EP Power.