Starbucks predicts that their new brand of instant coffee, called VIA "will change the way people drink coffee. We've heard talk like this before.
"With a $21 billion global instant coffee business, and instant coffee representing 40% of overall global coffee sales, we believe Starbucks is uniquely positioned to capture a significant share of this market," said Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz, in a statement.
As we have discussed in earlier posts, Starbucks has been in the coffee wars with rivals such as Dunkin Donuts and McDonald's as coffee drinkers have become more price-conscious.
We don't want to necessarily be the barriers of bad news for Starbucks, but coffee purists generally look down on instant coffee because it's regarded as inferior compared to brewed.
Starbucks proclaims Via is made with 100% natural roasted arabica coffee and that it took 20 years to develop with a microgrind technology that preserves the taste of fresh coffee.
Starbucks has partnered with a number of other companies that could benefit from Via's travel friendly package. The instant brew will be available on United Airlines flights of more than two hours, and at Omni and Marriott hotels.
