Howard Schultz, chairman, president and CEO of Starbucks, speaks during a news conference announcing Starbucks' Via Ready Brew instant coffee. Photo / AP
Howard Schultz, chairman, president and CEO of Starbucks, speaks during a news conference announcing Starbucks' Via Ready Brew instant coffee. Photo / AP
CHICAGO - Alongside its flashy array of triple espressos, foamy cappuccinos and half-caff extra-hot flavoured lattes, Starbucks unveiled its newest coffee drink yesterday: a cup of average, instant Joe served up for the equally proletarian price of about a dollar a cup.
Hoping to convince recession-shocked customers to return tothe brand that has spent years cultivating coffee connoisseurs, Starbucks is at first offering instant coffee only in Chicago and the chain's home base of Seattle.
Executives hope the water-soluble "Via" - sold in three- and 12-packs - will reinvigorate the chain's sagging sales and profits, and give it an edge in the globe's US$17 billion market for instant coffee.
Sleepy-eyed commuters in Chicago's Loop clamoured for free samples of the brew in stores yesterday morning.
And 15 "Ready Brew" vehicles hit the streets to hand out samples to the uncaffeinated who trudged to work.
By midday, as traffic slowed, baristas explained to customers that the Colombia variety of the coffee will go well in iced drinks once the city's brutal winter gives way to spring.
Not everyone is embracing Starbucks' ready-in-seconds alternative.
Seattle resident Lester Perez, a self-described coffee snob, said he fell in love with instant coffee while in Europe and now drinks Jacobs instant coffee, a German brand.
So what are the chances he'll switch to the hometown instant?
"I'll try it. But I'm not holding my breath," the 37-year-old software engineer said after passing over a cup of Via for a regular, drip coffee with milk.
Starbucks hopes Via will help it boost traffic in the afternoon and evening, when customers are more likely to want a single cup of coffee.
It's also hoping Via will revive the chain's overall sales, which have fallen in recent quarters amid the recession and increased competition from McDonald's, among others.
Starbucks reported in January that its fiscal first-quarter profit had slumped 69 per cent.
It also announced plans to slash nearly 7,000 more jobs during a new round of store closures and other cuts.
