Starbucks Corp. said Wednesday that it will expand sales of its instant coffee overseas this spring while adding packets of it to thousands of retail locations in the next six months.
The company plans to begin selling Via, which comes in a cylindrical plastic sleeve and dissolves in a cup of water, in the U.K. on Monday. It will launch the drink in Japan on April 14.
Starbucks launched Via in the U.S. and Canada last fall, hoping to get a piece of the $21 billion worldwide instant coffee market. It is now available in nearly 15,000 locations, including Starbucks' stores, Costco, Target, and REI stores.
The Seattle coffee giant now plans to sell the product through grocery stores and other mass-merchants, making it available in 30,000 locations by the end of Starbucks' fiscal third quarter.
Copyright 2010 AP News
