News

Starbucks testing green coffee

August 5, 2010

Starbucks Corp will begin testing summer drinks with a base of green, unroasted coffee as it works on new products to drive sales and differentiate itself from rivals such as McDonald's Corp and Dunkin' Donuts, according to a story from Reuters.

The drinks, called "Refreshers," will be sold at 113 company-operated cafes around San Diego, Calif., and are priced from $2.50 to $2.95. The drinks will be made of fruit and are expected to have fewer calories and less caffeine than the company's traditional coffee, said Starbucks' vice president of global beverage Julie Felss Masino.

As reported by Reuters:

Ingredients include a "flavor neutral" powdered extract made from unroasted green coffee and formulated to have less of a caffeine kick than regular coffee, [Masino] said.

"It's coffee that doesn't taste like coffee," she said.

While the move is to help the company compete with quick-service coffee chains, Starbucks has seen huge success from its VIA instant coffee product. In its first 10 months of availability, VIA has exceeded $100 million in sales.