“Starbucks Via Ready Brew continues to excite customers and represents a significant opportunity for the company to expand our reach through a broadened coffee portfolio,” said Starbucks chairman, president and CEO Howard Schultz. “Consumers have quickly adopted Starbucks Via as their coffee while on the go. Whether it is brewed as a single cup before leaving the house, while travelling, or at the office, customers have found it is a convenient solution.”
The nationwide UK launch of Starbucks Via on 8 March builds on the successful pilot in London and will introduce Britain’s 31 million coffee drinkers to a high-quality instant and microground coffee. This launch comes on the heels of a successful local-market trial conducted in London; recognition in a survey by Allegra Strategies which voted Starbucks Via as the ‘Most Innovative New Product’ in 2009; and the availability of Starbucks Via on all easyJet routes in early 2010.
In its first year, Starbucks Via has helped Starbucks claim a larger piece of the overall global coffee market. Instant coffee makes up a majority of coffee purchases in many of the international markets where Starbucks has a retail presence, and represents 63% of total coffee sold in Japan and more than 80% of coffee drunk at home in the UK. Together, these two markets account for more than $4 billion in instant coffee retail sales annually. Globally, instant coffee represents 40% of coffee sales, which translates into an annualized $21 billion and growing market.
Source: Starbucks Corporation
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