Starbucks Will Sell Instant Coffee

Baristas may turn up their noses, but Starbucks is going to start selling instant coffee, reports Advertising Age. Starbucks Via will be available in some cafes next month. The move comes on the heels of value meals and store closings by Starbucks as it adapts to tough times. Via will sell for $2.95 for 3 packets—customers will stir it in themselves, and the company's marketing push will insist it tastes as good as the brewed stuff.

"This product has enormous value," said Starbucks exec Howard Schultz, who has long been a backer of the concept. Instant coffee is a huge seller overseas, notes the Wall Street Journal, and Starbucks can no longer afford to ignore the market. In the UK, the instant version accounts for 81% of coffee sales. (More Starbucks stories.)