Starbucks testing green coffee in summer drinks

By Reuters
Posted Aug. 6, 2010 at 11:51 a.m.

Starbucks Corp. began testing summer drinks with a base of green, unroasted coffee this week as it works on new products to drive sales and differentiate itself from rivals like McDonald’s Corp .

The drinks, called “Refreshers,” will be sold at 113 company-operated cafes around San Diego and priced from $2.50 to $2.95. Starbucks’ vice president of global beverage, Julie Felss Masino, said they are made of fruit and low in calories and caffeine.

Ingredients include a “flavor neutral” powdered extract made from unroasted green coffee and formulated to have less of a caffeine kick than regular coffee, she said. “It’s coffee that doesn’t taste like coffee,” she said.

Investors watch new product launches from high-profile companies like Starbucks because they can open up new sales opportunities. Starbucks invented the Frappuccino blended beverage and turned it into a $2 billion annual business.

Starbucks has been focusing on new drinks after a massive restructuring that closed roughly 900 cafes globally.

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