Starbucks: Soluble or Instant - This New Coffee is a Revenue, Not Brand, Driver

Source Article: Starbucks Takes Plunge Into Instant Coffee | online.wsj.com
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Implications:
1) Instant Coffee has downscale Connotation in US
2) Does it "Cheapen" experience of Barista-Brewed beverages
3) Is the "Starbucks(NAS:SBUX)" Coin-op machine next?

Analysis:
The news that Starbuck's is introducing "Soluble" coffee seems to come from left field for a firm as tied to it's Brand Image as Starbucks.

It's as though they are saying "we can't fix the retail experience for our customers any further, so brand extension is the next step."

The news that Starbucks was adding breakfast sandwiches to the store lineup makes sense, It's a competition driver and complements the core premium site-prepared coffee product.

This one doesn't make much sense at all. No matter how good it is, it's still instant coffee. AND, it isn't price competitive at all with current instant coffee products. Perhaps they've researched and found an underserved "Premium Instant Coffee Drinker" niche no one else is aware of.

Instead of brand extension, improving quality of product and retail experience, along with providing some sort of value offering in a "Combo" promotion with brewed coffee and one of the new sandwiches will do more for the business in the long run.

If "Via" is to become the "Value" coffee offering for Starbucks, which is what they seem to be positioning it to be, then they don't truly grasp the competitive challenges that lay ahead for premium consumer brands right now.

If getting Starbuck's coffee for under "A buck a cup" means eliminating the water, then that seems like a strategy gone backwards.