What is Starbucks biggest-ever product launch?

snuiteke

Instant coffee. In the company's biggest product launch ever, Starbucks on Tuesday will start selling its Via instant coffee packets at all U.S. and Canadian stores, backing the new product with a nationwide television advertising campaign and an in-store merchandising blitz. It's a rare move for a company that typically has shied away from TV advertising, underscoring what Starbucks says is a huge opportunity to revolutionize a key market. Instant coffee, at $17 billion in annual global sales, is 40% of the total coffee market. Starbucks is "making a traditional category more contemporary," remarked Harry Balzer, vice president of consumer researcher NPD Group, who has tracked the eating and drinking habits of Americans for nearly 30 years. In the United States, only 9% of coffee drinkers use instant, he said. According to Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz, instant coffee hasn't seen any product innovation over the last half-century when it comes to taste. He believes people will find it hard to taste the difference between Via and the company's brewed coffees. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/starbucks-next-fix-instant-coffee-2009-09-29 Starbucks gets 75 percent of its sales from beverages. Items like food, merchandise and whole bean coffee account for the remaining 25 percent, with food leading the category.Starbucks says oatmeal is most popular food launch. http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE48M9WT20080923 Oct 01 09, 12:42 AM