News

Starbucks acquires Evolution Fresh

November 9, 2011

As part of its commitment to evolve and enhance the customer experience with innovative and wholesome products, Starbucks Coffee Company has announced the acquisition of Evolution Fresh Inc. With this acquisition, Starbucks plans to reinvent the $1.6 billion super-premium juice segment, and is taking a significant next step in entering the larger $50 billion health and wellness sector.

Based in San Bernardino, Calif., Evolution Fresh sells its products in retail stores including Whole Foods Markets and PCC, exclusively on the West Coast. Evolution Fresh Inc. will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Starbucks Corporation.

"Our intent is to build a national Health and Wellness brand leveraging our scale, resources and premium product expertise. Bringing Evolution Fresh into the Starbucks family marks an important step forward in this pursuit," said Howard Schultz, Starbucks chairman, president and CEO. "Over the last year-and-a-half we have looked comprehensively at possible opportunities and chose Evolution Fresh because it stood above anything else in terms of premium quality, nutrition and potential for growth."

Starbucks acquired Evolution Fresh for $30 million in cash. Evolution Fresh is expected to operate at a modest loss in Fiscal 2012, then reach breakeven in Fiscal 2013.

Evolution Fresh was started by the original founder of Naked Juice, Jimmy Rosenberg. Using an innovative technology called High Pressure Pasteurization (HPP), Evolution Fresh is able to deliver a "never heated" juice product to consumers.

"Using High Pressure Pasteurization (HPP) to help ensure the inherent nutrients are kept intact during the juicing process is a key point of differentiation for a growing number of our juices," Rosenberg said. "Consumers trust the Starbucks brand to deliver on superior best-in-category quality and taste. On behalf of all of us at Evolution Fresh, we are proud to join the Starbucks organization."

Over time, Starbucks plans to expand beyond Evolution Fresh's current distribution into additional channels, as well as begin to make Evolution Fresh products available in Starbucks' company-owned retail stores providing nationwide presence and awareness.

Additionally, to showcase Starbucks' growing portfolio, and as consumers become increasingly aware of Evolution Fresh, the company plans to introduce a new health and wellness retail concept which will further redefine the super-premium juice category and experience for consumers unlike any prior existing juice retail. The retail concept is planned for early-to-mid calendar 2012.