Starbucks launches instant coffee
04 March 2010 09:51
Starbucks' instant coffee brand, Via, will go on sale this week for the first time in the UK. The company hopes to take on the likes of Nescafé and Kenco following the launch, which Howard Shultz, Starbucks's chief executive, described as "perhaps the biggest opportunity" in the company's history.
Starbucks said that, of the 56 cups of coffee a month that the average Brit drinks, only two are bought from a shop – the rest are made at home. The launch follows close on the heels of research from Mintel which found that the in-home coffee market is still booming despite the economic downturn. Valued at £782 million in 2009, the market for coffee is forecast to grow by as much as 25% by 2014, when it will hit the £976 million mark.
Ben Perkins, head of food and drink research at Mintel said: "Economic turbulence in the UK has contributed to a shift in the way that consumers drink their coffee, which has largely been to the benefit of the in-home coffee market. As coffee shops have felt the effects of consumer belt tightening, the in-home market has witnessed a good deal of trading up, as consumers endeavour to replicate the coffee shop experience at an in-home price.
"While once Brits were happy to settle with a bog standard cup of instant, today the traditional cup of coffee has become increasingly sophisticated as roast, ground, instant premium and super-premium are being sought after more frequently by core users than in previous years".
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