Starbucks has been talking about tapping the instant coffee market for a while now. On Monday, all of their locations in the United States had Starbucks VIA Ready Brew — the name of Starbucks’ instant coffee.
Said Howard Schultz, the CEO and President of Starbucks: “We believe Starbucks VIA™ will change the way people drink coffee and where they enjoy it. It took 20 years for us to create a coffee that delivers Starbucks® coffee quality in an instant, and we’re excited to make that available throughout the U.S. and Canada.”
To convince customers to give Starbucks VIA Ready Brew a try, …read more

More than a year ago, Starbucks said that it was going to close 900 cafes. However, the coffee company now says that they won’t have to close as many cafes as feared. In fact, 27 of the Starbucks cafes that were going to close are now going to remain open.
Starbucks changed its mind after it was found that the cafes ended up being more profitable than expected. Not only will that mean the cafes will stay open but it also means that Starbucks won’t have to layoff as many employees as it had earlier predicted.
The state most effected by this …read more

In an effort to jumpstart their stalled sales in this difficult global economy, Starbucks announced that they have hired a new global chief marketing officer — Annie Young-Scrivner. In addition to global marketing, she’ll also be in charge of product strategy.
Said Howard Schultz, the President and CEO of Starbucks: “Annie brings a wealth of knowledge in international business and a proven track record in global marketing and product strategy, including health and wellness.”
With two decades of experience, Young-Scrivner most recently worked as the Chief Marketing Officer of Quaker Foods and Snacks. She has worked with a number of other large …read more

It hardly makes sense on the surface that a business would resort to raising prices to see itself through a deep recession and weak consumer spending, but that is exactly what Starbucks plans to do. While several basic drinks may now be less expensive, Starbucks has already started raising prices on specialty drinks in several stores.
 
By the end of the year, the price adjustments should already be affecting Starbucks stores nationwide, placing Starbucks firmly in the difficult position of balancing its brand with its customers’ desires to save money. Competition from the likes of McDonald’s, which recently started selling espresso …read more

Starbucks has gotten a lot of high grades as of late in terms of employee benefits. Those benefits apparently just got better as Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz announced that the company would start matching 401(k) retirement contributions.
The announcement by Shultz, which came via a memo, said: “Our progress over these past few months has given us the opportunity to fund the company discretionary match for the 2009 plan year. Make no mistake, we remain humbled by the uncertain economic environment and know we have a long journey ahead.”
Earlier this year, most industry experts believed that Starbucks wouldn’t be able to …read more

The ubiquitous coffee giant Starbucks has released its results for the third quarter, beating analysts’ expectations with a larger-than-expected profit. Starbucks has credited a decrease in the amount of money spent on labor, as well as the amount the company spends on dairy products, for the profit, which led to a rise in the value of Starbucks’ stock.
 
While analysts expected a profit worth 19 cents per share for Starbucks’ third quarter, the company posted earnings of 24 cents per share in a statement released today. Sales have declined to $2.4 billion, marking a 6.6 percent fall, but sales managed to …read more

Starbucks has had a major presence in the East African country of Rwanda in recent years. On Saturday, Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, went to Rwanda to talk about how the coffee company will participate in the Starbucks Farmer Support Center grand opening.
The support center will help farmers improve the quality of the coffee that they grow by bettering their practices. In the country of Costa Rica, Starbucks has a similar support center and the company says that the result has been an increase in coffee quality produced and a decrease in the amount of pesticides used.
Paul Kagame, the …read more

If you are flying in the United Kingdom, chances are you will soon be able to purchase a cup of Starbucks. On easyJet flights, Starbucks VIA Ready Brew will be available.
The largest airline in the United Kingdom, easyJet has more than 100 destinations. In 2008, easyJet had more than 40 million customers. Starting on May 1st, those customers who fly out the Stansted, Newcastle and Gatwick airports will be able to order a cup of Starbucks coffee.
Starbucks VIA Ready Brew is an eco-friendly type of coffee that uses micro-ground coffee beans. It’s verified by Shared Planet and is available online …read more

Beginning in the first week of May, Starbucks will offer a gluten-free cake at its stores. The cake will be known as Valencia Orange Cake and will be made completely of gluten-free ingredients. The retail price for the cake is expected to be slightly more than two dollars.
Starbucks claims that the idea for the gluten-free cake came courtesy of their suggestion website at MyStarbucksIdea.com. At that site, Starbucks customers can let the company know what they’d like to see added or improved.
Gluten-free foods are essential for people who have coeliac disease, a autoimmune disorder that is related to an intolerance …read more

With an opening of a location in Poland, Starbucks is now available in 50 countries around the globe. Although Starbucks has slowed its growth in the United States, they have become more aggressive in expanding in other countries.
The coffee corporation partnered with AmRest Holdings to make the Poland location a reality. AmRest is a company based in Holland that manages many ventures in Eastern and Central Europe. AmRest and Starbucks have already partnered for locations in Hungary and the Czech Republic.
Worldwide, Starbucks has more than 15,000 stores. Approximately 12,500 of those stores are located in either the United States, Canada …read more