Is Starbucks Instant Coffee a Good Idea?
Hear ye, mobile caffeine addicts of the world: Starbucks now sells instant coffee. It’s called Via, and Starbucks thinks it could “change the way people drink coffee.” Instant coffee represents about 40 percent of the global coffee market, CEO Howard Schultz said, and “Starbucks is uniquely positioned to capture a significant share of this market.” Wait, didn’t we just hear them shrugging off McDonald’s competition by saying Starbucks is for people who care about good coffee? For a pseudo-Euro cafe with faux-Francaise decorating, that seems a touch…déclassé. Starbucks says Via has been in the pipeline for years, but the timing is remarkably responsive to McDonald’s fast and furious push into the coffee business. As the Golden Arches’ profits rises, Starbuck’s stock has fallen, posting negative sales for more than a year. In June, I predicted that Starbucks would continue to outpace McDonald’s among latte drinkers. But Starbucks is going in the opposite direction now, catering to the
