Article Source: msnbc.com
from:msnbc.comStarbucks Corp, the chain that introduced upscale coffee drinks to the masses, said on Thursday it hopes to do the same for instant coffee.
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A buck for a cup of instant coffee? Are you serious?
High quality products for very low prices is the only way to get through a depression.
So, what.... you walk into a Starbucks, buy 3 bag of instant coffee.... then what? Go home? Buy a cup of hot water and throw the bag in? Why in the world whoul they not just sell great coffee at a buck a cup and not tell you its instant....
I have always liked the flavor of 'Fourbucks' but have found it just as easy and less expensive to brew at home. I now treat myself to a 'Fourbucks' every six months after my dental appt.
I am with you. I can brew awesome coffee at home but will pay the $4.75 for the white chocolate latte every once and a while.
I can get a piping hot 22 ounce freshly brewed coffee at the local MobilMart for $1.19.
So long Starbucks.
I had Starbucks once.I was back in the states for a visit in 98 after 14 years and I wanted to know what all the BS was about.And thats exactly what I considered it after tasting it,just BS.Quality?I didn't think so.I have Never wasted my money again. Americans can not live without those LABLES.
They need to be careful about diluting their brand. The only reason people still pay "$4" for a cup of coffee is because of the branding and marketing. If they start pushing this low priced strategy too far, they will lose that appeal. Same goes for the recently announced combo meals. That's a little too McDonalds-esque, and soon they won't be able to differentiate themselves, especially as McDonald's is pursuing the higher end segments themselves.
The only reason I think it's great is because the coffee at my office is GROSS! I will be getting the instant coffee to keep at my desk should I want a decent cup of coffee while working. Other than that, I wouldn't buy it.
The reason why Starbucks charges the amounts they do for their beverages is because all of the coffee in store has been grown for Starbucks. In return Starbucks helps to provide food, water, shelter and eductaion to those farming communities. It is hard for someone who is not a partner in the company to understand this. I am proud to serve a hand crafted beverage every morning to my customers! By the way... a 12oz cup of coffe is $1.60, a 16oz cup is $1.85, and a 20oz cup is $1.95. The most expensive drinks are $4.60 and those are the seasonal beverages that have a thicker or more syrup such as the Pumpkin Spice Latte and the Peppemint Mocha Twist. If you get a Starbucks Gold card you can save 10%. Also if you want some delicious coffee to brew at home, go in to any Starbucks, buy a pound of coffe and get your free cup of fresh brewed coffee while your there. A pound pf coffee runs anywhere between $9.95 and $15.95. The more expensive coffees are the Black Apron Exclusives, which are rare due to seasonal coffee beans.
Ha ha. I have to say, that's a new one on me. "Hand crafted beverage". Well of course you should expect to pay more for a "hand crafted beverage" than just a plain ol' cup of coffee.
Well yeah... more goes into it. Syrups, milk and shots of espresso dont pay for themselves. A "plain ol' cup of coffee" involves sticking the cup under the brewer and pushing down the lever... you put in your own sugar and cream if you want it. Your Venti White Mocha gets 5 pumps of syrup, steamed milk, two shots of espresso and whip cream made in the store. Someone put time and effort in making a beverage for you to enjoy.
Is it just me or does $2.95 for 3 cups of coffee that you brew yourself not seem like any kind of deal? Or $10 - $15 for a pound of coffee??? I pay about $4 for a pound of Eight O'Clock coffee and I get way more than 3 cups out of it. And they send me coupons, so sometimes I only pay about $3 for a pound. Not all Americans are sucked in by the label. I can make a latte at home that tastes just as good, my friends and neighbors love my lattes. Sad, another American company got greedy and now will suffer the consequences.
From one extreme to the other - Shows company desperation!!
Jay, I'm with you Starbucks is gawd awful. They serve it on United Airlines. That stuff will grow hair on your knee caps instantaneously.I carry my Maxwell House bags and ask for hot water. When I'm out and about I stop for Dunkin Donuts coffee.
Great marketing ploy, but their coffee sucks. I suspect their instant coffee will be even worse.
No thankyou; I prefer to handcraft my own coffee at home with no wait lines.
You can make fresh roast coffee at home for way, way less than a buck.
That's true, however if you don't have a Starbucks cup to carry it around in front of your friends and co-workers it's just not the same.
I got an excellent expresso machine with milk steaming off Ebay for like 40 bucks, I can make all the same fancy drinks, and for a hell of a lot less. A thermos is less sleek looking but works just as good.
Well if it requires you to carry a Starbucks cup around in front of your friends and co-workers then they are not considered your "friend" is it?
20 years in the making? HA HA HA HA HA! Instant coffe was all they were selling to the fools that bought it in the first place at $4 to $6 a cup. Starbucks just decided to sell it at a lower price now. VIA my butt. R.I.P Starbucks.
another futile attempt by the captain of a sinking ship.
I bagged ground columbian for $6.54 and made a total 130 cups.
Uh ... Ground Columbian??? Do you drink it or smoke it? Bad jokes aside, it is so easy to brew ground coffee by the cup in those handy brewers for pennies a cup ... good coffee ... that a buck for an instant packet is from outer space.
Nice
Starbucks has really been nothing more than a status symbol for several years now. You buy a dollar cup of coffee and it is just coffee. Or you can pay $4.00 for the same cup of coffee and it is designer coffee. You could easily raise your status level at work by walking in carrying a cup of "Starbucks" coffee. The $1.00 cup of instant coffee is not going to get them out of the hole they have dug for themselves. They would actually be better off selling their regular coffee for buck. (put the 'buck' back into Starbucks). They would still make a profit. Fact is, what separates a good cup of coffee from a bad cup has more to do with the way it is brewed and the water you use than the coffee itself.
When did Starbucks become a status symbol? Perhaps I am jaded having lived in Seattle my entire life, but I would never consider a Starbucks coffee cup to be a status symbol. In fact, in the Seattle area, where Starbucks began, it is considered more socially aware, and therefore hip, to frequent the smaller coffee chains devoted to purchasing shade grown, fair trade coffee beans.
come to NY or DC and you'll see what they mean
Glad I can afford to buy vente lattes any time I choose. Don't drink coffee any more unless it's decaf. People need to get a real life and understand what will help others.
Well I'm glad someone can afford it. Decaf isn't real life!
Decaf is like non-alcoholic beer. No point.
Here, I'll say it-
Decaf is for pussies!
I bought pre packaged ground cloumbian coffee for $6.50, It made 130 cups of great tasting coffee.
this is another futile attempt by the captain of sinking ship.
Starpuicks is going down. even Mc donalds has good coffee. No one needs the burnt bean brew in these times. You can buy breakfast: 2 eggs, toast, hashbrowns and a cup of brewed coffee at the local rest for under 5.00. It used to be considered a treat to have a latte. now its a treat to have fresh brewed coffee at home. All the banks even have free fresh coffee in the lobby now.
I consider Spam a treat now.
And McDonalds gives a discount to seniors too. Does SB?
Yes, but not real cream, just that powdered stuff that passes for cream
Because Starbucks is one of those companies that you either love or hate, it gets a lot of attention for doing what all the other business are doing...and that is finding a way to keep up lagging sales in this rough economical time. Don't get me wrong, while I enjoy my ultra-modified caramel macchiato when I can, I am not a giant fan of the company. I used to work for them... and the company that I began working for a few years ago is a far cry from the company that it has become. The focus is...and has been for the last few years...on how to make Starbucks unique among the coffee hockers, while turning a hefty profit...instead of putting out quality product and promoting a comfortable environment (which they label as "third place") for its customers. I will not buy their instant coffee...and truth be told, most Starbucks coffee drinkers will probably not either. They are used to a certain taste, brew, roast, etc...and I can't see how an instant can offer that...
A buck a cup for instant coffee! Bye, bye Starbucks...it's been nice knowing ya!
Starbucks took how many years to develop this instant coffee?
you're out Starbucks , done like dinner. history.finished. kaput. over. end. down. you've clowned out.
I don't think I'd write off Stabucks quite so easily...
Lines are still very long every time I go, and really difficult to get seats. They closed a number of stores (or are in the process of doing so), and I think that will be an effective strategy for them long term.
I always liked the idea of Starbucks--a place to hang out for awhile reading and listening to music. I never liked their overpriced bitter coffee though. Paying only a dollar for coffee I probably won't like any better sounds like a step up.
Hey Starbucks, try 25 cents a cup, maybe then you will turn a profit on this new product.
Anyone remember "New Coke"??? Didn't think so.
lol
Yes, but it's a faint and distant memory however, I do still rember that it sucked.
Didn't even taste good with Jack Daniels.
Oh yes. I remember it. They tried to make it taste more like Pepsi. I drink pepsi anyway. And who can afford Jack Daniels anymore. I have to buy the cheap rot gut off the bottom shelf.
20 years in the making...Oh Pa'leeeeezzze. What was 20 minutes in the making was a marketing strategy to insult your "once loyal" customer's intelligence. What a cheap shot. Starbucks..I see a falling star.
Starbucks...A trip to Starbucks is kind of like going to a movie or any social outing for me. I know those that work in my local store, and I used to frequent it, that is, until some 33 year old barista cock-blocked me against this smoking hot young lady from Spain. The nerve. i was like "Dude, you're 3o something mixing coffees at Starbucks, this lady is waaaay outta your league". But, he blocked me.
I quit going that day.
20 years to discover SANKA?!?!
Good one MaMa P. Do you remember, "I remember MaMa"sponsored by Maxwell House? Just had to ask. I'm still making it, just like my Mama and Gramma did.
Great. The over roasted burnt tasting coffee is already bad enough. Now they want to sell instant coffee which taste like crap already. Way to go Starbucks. There is better tasting coffee out there. Healthy Antixoxidant coffee 500% more.
Oh yes you can write them off, for too long we had a bunch off of brainwashed people paying big bucks for just burned coffe, you buy yourself a good breakfast and good coffe in your local restaurand for that money, and keep these people in business. I drink instant decaf for the last 10 years already at home, cost me $8.79 a can and get at least 80 cups of good tasting coffe out of it. Starbuck has always been a ripoff,the people wised up at last.The instant trick will not work,they are way too late just like the carmakers.
Why don't they have a Starbucks coffee club, you buy a coffee mug for $5, then when you stop in to get reg coffee a 8oz cup It's free for one year.
Stuckey's Pecan shops had this back in the 60's, but then an 8oz cup was only a $1, but free coffee for a year, after a year you had to buy a new cup. They sold a lot of Pecan log rolls with that free coffee.
hey Bass-364340...back in the '60's, an excellent cup of Stuckey's brewed restaurant coffee was (drumrolll....) $0.10, yup ten cents....and free refills....fresh heavy cream...sugar....add a pecan roll for 30 cents. i am doing the math in my head, and yeh, it's not just four and a half decades of inflation at work here, it's definitely more costly as a percentage of an average person's income to buy retail coffee and meals now, maybe 50 percent more costly than it was back in those days.
Businesses like Starbucks, who have gouged the public in every way imaginable, are now finding out that there is a price for being so greedy. The local coffee shop here is doing very well, charging a full $1.10 less per latte, and $1.00 less for drip coffee. This little establishment has far less buying power, yet somehow has always managed to charge less than what the market can bear.
I only feel sorry for the employees who are losing their jobs because of Howard Schultz's inability to charge reasonable prices rather than his choice of exploiting supply/demand laws to their fullest. This all resulted in obscene profits, and it's a pity that the average working stiff will suffer the consequences.
Starbucks was a cool co when it was first started but its like over built, saturated, bad coffee, snobby service, and only focused on stock prices and how to screw another customer out of a buck for a 5 cent product. Good luck staying afoat:) with that 3 million ton weight around your neck
This is funny. I go to S'Bucks a few times a year, usually because either I'm meeting someone for a coffee, or I can't find a dunkin donuts close. Either way I just don't like that there are coffee snobs behind the counter and it's almost an insult to ask for a medium coffee instead of whatever they call the sizes. I just want a good cup of coffee at a cheap price. I buy a pound of coffee in the store and it brews up just fine. I really do see the end of S'Bucks. I think they mught be pulling any rabbit out of the hat they can grab. People want good coffee and in today's world they want it cheap. Instant? LOLOL. It's a joke that SB I feel will have brought on themselves.
Last time I went to fourbuks the snob behind the counter tried to school me on the proper vernacular when I asked for a medium coffee. Stopped the acme challenged kid, mid sentence and told him when he starts paying me, I'll call it whatever he wants me to. As long as I'm paying, it's a medium coffee.
He probably spit in your cup behind the counter.
I'm hip to that one, I watched him
We are supposed to pronounce it correctly. Please be nice to your baristas, we deal with @!$%#s all day who try to school us in life when really were just trying to make a living. I work three jobs... I am up and at my Starbucks at 5:00am then I leave there go to my afternoon job and evening jobs after that. I get home at 11:00pm and repeate the process the next day. Please consider next time you visit a Starbucks what all is happening behind the counter. While I am working I re-brew expired coffee every 30 minutes, take calls through the drive thru, take orders up front, make drinks (with all the different modifications because people are so damn picky!), cleaning any messes, handling cash (if our tills are off we get in major trouble), helping any new partners that may be on the floor, helping any customers that have any questions, running for supplies, re-stocking, and finaly dealing with any of the people who think they are going to try and be smart and tell me how to make their drink even though i have a recipe that i am suppsed to follow. Im sorry a little bit of foam was still floating on top of your Quad Venti Three Splenda No Foam Latte, ill stop making the 16 other drinks ive got lined up so that i can remake your drink instead of taking off the foam and topping it off for you. Oh and heres a coupon so that next time you feel like bitching it'll be a free visit. Oops that whole process just pissed off all the other people in my lobby. Well @!$%# there goes my day. But i do it with a smile and why is that? Because i get kick ass health, dental and vision care, and I know that soon one of my regular customers will be walking in that door to ask me how my day is going and to treat me like a human while i fix up their daily treat. The fact that my company i work for strives to make the consumer and the partner happy is why I am proud to put on my hat and apron.
you know there are 4 cup sizes at Starbucks so there is no "medium" thats why we have to ask you what size you want...idiot.
Nice attitude, I'll get my coffee from DD or 7/11, where they have small, medium, large and xtra large.
Enjoy the expanded unemployment benefits...idiot.
LOL @ Proud Barista
My friend's gf worked at starbucks and I used to hear everytime how they have to still use the coffee even after its been expired for more than 6 months. I dont mind if Starbucks still goes strong. It just makes me laugh inside when I see people walking around with overpriced expired coffee.
Uber pointless...Starbuck's coffee is pretty ordinary to start (but still streets ahead of the traditional Folgers and Maxwell house offerings) and now they want to sell instant??
If It's come to this, they may as well shut shop now.
I only buy Starbucks when there's not a quality alternative (like where there'd no 'real' cafe's around or the the market doesn't sell Lavazza for me to brew at home). Otherwise I'm not much fussed with it.
Starbucks did introduce an alternative for that nasty diner coffee that sits there and stews though...Americans have something to thank them for right there.
Yeah like I'd order instant after the ration of attitude I get whenever I ask for a regular coffee instead of one of those crappy lattes in Starbucks now? I don't think so! Besides....I no longer buy ANYTHING from "Starbutts" anyway.