Starbucks has said that its rollout of the ‘Via’ instant coffee brand has not resulted in lower sales of its premium brewed or bagged ground coffee, a prospect that analysts had worried about.

In comments made at a conference, Chairman and CEO Howard Schultz said that the new range had in fact helped add "significant" incremental growth to overall sales. Schultz added that Starbucks expects Via to contribute $100m in sales in its first year, and said the range is a "mirror image" of whole-bean and ground coffee in terms of margins.

Schultz also said the coffee chain is working to launch Via at 30,000 distribution points, including wholesalers, grocery and drug stores, and will introduced an iced version later in June.

In his speech, he also said that Starbucks continues to look towards international markets, saying the company is “studying very carefully” markets such as China, India, and Vietnam. He said that if the company does decide to enter new markets, it may do so as part of a joint venture or in a licensing deal.

NamNews - Thursday 3rd June 2010

 

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