March 23 at 1:49 p.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food,
Packaged foods,
Restaurants
By Reuters
Starbucks Corp. coffee on a shelf at a grocery store in New York. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg)
Starbucks Corp. wants to make sales of its coffee and other products in the grocery aisle rival its traditional cafe business, according to Chief Executive Howard Schultz.
The world’s biggest coffee chain is betting it can use the power of its brand to sell a portfolio of goods — such as Via instant coffee and bottled Frappuccino — everywhere food and beverages are sold, whether in a supermarket in the United States or a vending machine in Asia. Get the full story »
Feb. 1 at 10:48 a.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food,
Updated
By Emily Bryson York
Seattle-based coffee giant Starbucks will offer customers who don’t like Starbucks Via Ready Brew the option of replacing it with a 12-ounce bag of ground coffee.
Via, launched in 2009, was the first major entry into the U.S. instant coffee market in years. Though the coffee packets generated $135 million in sales in their first year, Starbucks is appealing to a wider audience with an offer: Try it. And if you don’t like it, we’ll replace it with regular coffee.
Starbucks announced the promotion Tuesday morning. It will run through August. In order to score free java, customers unhappy with their Via purchase can print out a form online and mail it in with their original receipt and UPC code. Requests must be postmarked by August 31. Get the full story »
Dec. 14, 2010 at 2:34 p.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food,
Packaged foods
By Reuters
A feud between Starbucks Corp. and Kraft Foods Inc. over supermarket coffee sales has been brewing since at least January — far longer than Kraft has acknowledged — according to email exchanges between their top executives provided by Starbucks.
The rift became public last month, when the Seattle coffee company said it wanted to end its 12-year-old distribution deal with Kraft, which sells bags of Starbucks coffee in supermarkets and other stores. Get the full story »
Nov. 12, 2010 at 6:08 a.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food
By Dow Jones Newswires
Starbucks Corp. plans to launch coffee machines in the U.S. to ensure growth in the consumer packaged goods market.
The Seattle-based coffee chain is looking to expand its presence in the U.S. consumer packaged goods arena and will sell single-service coffee machines and instant coffee pods to accompany them, Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz said in an interview Friday. The timeline for the product’s rollout hasn’t yet been determined, Schultz said. Get the full story »
Nov. 5, 2010 at 11:54 a.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food,
Retail,
Updated
By Emily Bryson York
(Charles Osgood/Chicago Tribune)
Kraft is apparently steamed by Starbucks’ announcement that it plans to fire the company as its grocery store distributor.
On Thursday night, Kraft Foods Inc. said its agreement to supply packaged Starbucks coffee to grocery stores “is perpetual…if Starbucks decides to exit its relationship with Kraft Foods, the agreement requires Starbucks to pay Kraft Foods the fair market value of the business plus, in certain instances, a premium.”
Starbucks fired back today with a company statement saying, “We consider it unfortunate that Kraft has chosen to make public statements that we believe mischaracterize the nature of the agreement between our companies, including the term of the agreement.” The statement went on to note that the companies’ agreement contains a clause for the resolution of disputes. Both companies maintain that regardless of how their relationship is terminated, customers shouldn’t expect service interruptions.
Get the full story »
Aug. 30, 2010 at 8:03 a.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food,
Packaged foods
By Emily Bryson York
Starbucks is adding four flavors to its Via instant coffee portfolio — vanilla, mocha, caramel and cinnamon spice — beginning this fall.
Via launched about a year ago with two black-coffee flavors: Italian roast and Colombia. The company has since added decaffeinated and iced coffee versions. Starbucks is new to flavored coffee, having launched Natural Fusions, its first flavored coffees earlier this summer. Get the full story »
