News

Starbucks teams up with Whole Foods, expands Latin American footprint

August 28, 2013

Starbucks launched its own snack and juice lines this week throughout Whole Foods Market stores nationwide. Specifically, Whole Foods is now carrying 14 of Starbucks' Evolution Fresh cold-pressed juice flavors, as well as three varieties of bars from its new Evolution Harvest snack line, according to the N.Y. Daily News.

This is just one of many deals the coffee giant has made recently to expand the brand outside coffee. It bought juice maker Evolution Fresh in 2011, for $30 million. Last year it also acquired Teavana and the La Boulange bakery and this summer partnered with Danone, a France-based yogurt company. The two have plans to introduce co-branded yogurt products next year.

Starbucks expects Evolution Fresh juices to be in about 8,000 Starbucks and grocery stores by the end of 2013 and will also roll out Evolution Harvest fruit-and-nut bars, trail mixes and its freeze-dried fruit snack packs in big-city Starbucks locations.

Starbucks to enter Colombia retail market

Starbucks Coffee Company has also announced that it will open its first café in Colombia next year, expanding the company's longstanding relationship with Latin America.

After meeting this week with Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos, Starbucks chairman, president and chief executive officer Howard Schultz said, "Our long and proud history of purchasing and roasting Colombian coffee dates back to Starbucks' 1971 founding. From our humble start in Seattle's Pike Place Market, Starbucks has always admired and respected Colombia's distinguished coffee tradition. It is an honor for us to bring the Starbucks Experience and Colombia's finest coffee to this important and fast-growing market while collaborating with Colombia and USAID to continue empowering local coffee growers and sharing the value, heritage and tradition of its coffee with the world."

Starbucks stores in Colombia will be operated through a joint venture between two of Starbucks longest-term business partners in the Latin America region – Alsea and Grupo Nutresa, according to a company press release. As Starbucks leading licensed partner in Latin America for more than 10 years, the alliance with Alsea covers more than 500 Starbucks stores across Mexico, Argentina and Chile. Alsea started operations in the Colombian market in 2008, and today is operating three brands with a total of 48 locations.

Colcafe, a subsidiary of Grupo Nutresa, Colombia's leading food company, worked with Starbucks on the breakthrough Starbucks VIA soluble coffee and continues to be an innovative, strategic partner in manufacturing and now retail, Schutlz said.

Starbucks Colombia will open its first store in Bogota in 2014. The company has plans to open stores in Bogota and other major cities throughout Colombia over the next five years.

Locally sourced and roasted Colombian coffee

Starbucks also announced the expansion of its manufacturing relationship with Colcafe to offer Colombian customers locally sourced and roasted espresso, drip and packaged Colombian coffee. Starbucks has been roasting coffee in Colombia with Colcafe since 2008, when Starbucks developed its signature Starbucks VIA Ready Brew. Under the new manufacturing agreement, Colcafe will build on the current roasting and manufacturing for Starbucks VIA Colombia in their facility in Medellin, Colombia, to become the first roaster in Latin America to roast coffee for Starbucks espresso and packaged coffee.

The coffee chain is also adding to its 42-year purchasing relationship with Colombian coffee producers and farmers with its new public-private partnership with USAID to increase Colombian coffee yields and enhance economic opportunities for Colombian farmers, according to the release. This partnership will enable Starbucks to expand the collaboration with the Colombian Coffee Grower Federation and suppliers and exporters throughout Colombia to provide technical and agronomy support to Colombian farmers through a $1.5 million commitment by both Starbucks and USAID creating a three-year $3 million investment. This investment will enable the Starbucks Farmer Support Center, established in Manizales, Colombia, in 2012, to deliver training and agronomy support and positively impact 25,000 farmers throughout the country, according to the release.

Read more about coffee.