Loyalty Overhaul
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is using its fall seasonal push to simultaneously relaunch its loyalty architecture, expanding the rewards catalog from four to more than eight redemption options — including dollar-off discounts, size upgrades, and complimentary beverages and food items — across its 1,000-plus global locations in more than 24 markets. The program, operating under a "Rewards Your Way" positioning, retains a five-points-per-dollar earn rate and adds a new Challenges feature that surfaces personalized bonus-point opportunities to drive trial across dayparts and menu categories. Early access to pumpkin LTOs went live August 5 for existing loyalty members; the full program refresh rolls out August 19.
The Challenges mechanic is designed to reduce menu fatigue and lift frequency — two persistent pressure points for specialty coffee operators competing against both QSR coffee programs and independent café culture. By tying bonus-point triggers to specific behaviors (trying a seasonal SKU, exploring a new category), the brand is effectively using its loyalty data to run targeted trial programs without broad discounting. New member sign-ups receive a complimentary beverage, a standard acquisition offer across the specialty coffee segment.
The Fall LTO Slate
The pumpkin platform — a reliable traffic driver across the broader coffee and tea segment every fall — returns with three builds anchored to the chain's signature L.A. espresso: the Pumpkin Iced Latte with Cream Cap, the Pumpkin Dry Iced Americano, and the Pumpkin Extreme Ice Blended® Drink, all incorporating French Deluxe™ vanilla powder and pumpkin syrup. The format mix reflects current operator strategy in specialty coffee: layered texture cues (cream caps, pebble ice, caramel swirl) to support premium price positioning and social shareability.
The more consequential launch from a menu-development standpoint is the hojicha platform, debuting August 19. Hojicha — a low-roast Japanese green tea with a naturally nutty, less astringent profile — has been gaining traction on independent café menus in coastal markets for several years, but its rollout at 1,000-plus locations marks one of the more significant mainstream introductions of the ingredient in commercial foodservice. The three-SKU lineup includes the Iced Pumpkin Hojicha Latte, Iced Hojicha Latte, and Hojicha Ice Blended® Drink, each built on a white chocolate powder base. The chain positions hojicha's lower caffeine content as a broadening mechanism — drawing in guests who moderate caffeine but still want a premium tea-bar experience. A Ghost and Goblin Iced Latte set (espresso and matcha variants with cookie cream caps) runs September 16 through October 31 as a limited Halloween daypart play. All fall and seasonal beverages are available through November 3.
Competitive Context
For the Jollibee Foods Corporation-backed chain, the loyalty revamp and hojicha launch arrive as the specialty coffee segment faces continued pressure from domestic QSR operators with heavily resourced loyalty ecosystems. Starbucks, Dutch Bros, and Peet's have all invested heavily in personalization infrastructure in recent cycles, raising the baseline expectation for loyalty flexibility among frequent coffee buyers. Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf's move to expand redemption variety and introduce behavior-based challenges follows the playbook established by larger competitors but targets the brand's core constituency: experience-oriented, tea-fluent guests in coastal U.S. and international markets.
Dana Castaneda, Vice President and Head of Marketing Americas at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, framed the dual initiative around flavor discovery: the program is designed to give guests more ways to engage whether they are returning to familiar pumpkin formats or trialing hojicha for the first time. That positioning aligns with the brand's broader identity as a specialty tea-and-coffee house — a differentiation point relative to espresso-dominant QSR coffee programs — and gives franchisees and licensed operators a tool to drive check and visit frequency heading into the typically strong fall selling season. The chain was also recently ranked No. 2 Best Coffee Chain in America in Newsweek's 2026 Readers' Choice Awards, a consumer-facing credential the brand is likely to leverage in acquisition marketing tied to the loyalty relaunch.
For additional coverage of loyalty program trends in the specialty coffee segment, see our reporting on beverage program innovation and QSR loyalty strategy.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
