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

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

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

Starbucks is a company that, unsurprisingly, is highly affects by the poor economy and slow job market. Their product is all about “excess,” and as consumers continue to tighten their spending, the morning lattes are one of the firs expenses to get crossed off the list. However, the company is trying to let consumers know that they can have value products as well, and that you don’t need to be rich to afford their products.
The company had an annual investors’ meeting in Seattle today, and the auditorium was packed with people wanting to know how the coffee company would survive …read more

Starbucks, the coffee company founded in Seattle, Washington in 1971, had their stockholders meeting on Wednesday and outlined their plans to remain profitable. Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, said that the company is profitable and the foundation of the business is sound.
To maximize profitability, Starbucks hopes to improve the efficiency of their daily operations and reduce expenses by approximately $500 million in 2009. They will also take a stab at the market for instant coffee with their newly unveiled Starbucks VIA Ready Brew.
Although some experts question whether Starbucks could continue being profitable during these turbulent economic times, the company …read more