The company that added “venti” and “frappuccino” to American vocabularies is making a push throughout North America to convince connoisseurs to sample what many see as a down-market drink — instant coffee.
Nearly eight months after Starbucks Corp began selling its Via instant coffee in Seattle and Chicago, the company was yesterday to begin offering the dissolvable drink to the rest of the country and in its Canadian stores.
Backed by the company’s first-ever television ads, along with large-scale distribution to about 1,500 sites outside its stores, the Via launch shows just how determined Starbucks is to own a stake in the US$21 billion worldwide instant coffee market.
PERFORMING IN THE CUP
“Based on the success we’ve had, we feel strongly that we’re sitting on a very big opportunity,” Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said during a conference call with journalists. “What’s going to sell Via at the end of the day is that [it] delivers in the cup. Most people will not be able to tell the difference.”
While instant coffee is pervasive throughout Europe — accounting for as much as 80 percent of coffee sales in the UK — the insta-brews haven’t won over US taste buds, in large part because of their image as an inferior knock-off of drip-brewed beverages.
But it’s that perception that Starbucks executives are trying to change. They hope the skinny cylindrical three-packs (US$2.95) and 12-packs (US$9.95) of coffee that dissolve in water will eventually be as prevalent on store shelves as its packaged coffee is now. The coffee is available in Colombia and Italian Roast flavors, and more varieties are expected to be introduced in the future.
While experts see opportunity for Starbucks, they also see challenges.
Bob Goldin, an analyst at the Chicago-based food consultant Technomic Inc, said Starbucks faces twin hurdles of perception and price.
The Starbucks instant comes in just shy of US$1 a cup, compared with the pennies it costs for a cup of home-brewed joe.
Executives wouldn’t release data on how Via has performed during its eight months on the market, but said early sales in the two US cities — as well as in London — have exceeded expectations.
Among the surprises so far are the various uses of the drink discovered by consumers, executives said. Some people are buying the ground coffee to cook and bake with, while others are mixing it with cold water or milk. Schultz said it was also being bought by teachers to keep in lunchrooms and desks and by physicians who want a quick cup of coffee in a hospital.
FINANCIAL SWAGGER
The introduction of Via comes at a particularly trying time for Starbucks, which has seen its revenue slide for the last three consecutive quarters. Meanwhile, profits have fallen in five out of the past six quarters.
Hit by increasing competition and a recession that has caused caffeine addicts to switch to cheaper drinks, the gourmet chain has also had to close hundreds of stores and lay off workers as it tries to regain its financial swagger.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from