Starbucks Howard Schultz is the preeminent food merchant of our time according to Foodservice
Solutions® Grocerant Guru®. Without doubt Starbucks coffee is hot, the prepared
food is driving sales, and tea is selling both Hot and Cold.
Schultz is a food merchant first and foremost,with the ability to not only understand points of
distribution but the ability to drive innovation in product while creating new
points of distribution for all his products.
This
week Schultz announced that Anheuser-Busch and Starbucks “are working together
to produce, bottle, distribute, and market the first Teavana Ready-to-Drink
(RTD) tea in the U.S., with an anticipated product launch in the first half of
2017. “
Grocerant
niche Ready-2-Drink (R2D) premium tea is the fastest-growing segment in the R2D
tea category, which grew at 16 percent CAGR over the past five years and
generates $1.1 billion in sales. Together, Starbucks and Anheuser-Busch
will bring their complementary strengths to bear to capitalize on the
significant growth opportunity. Starbucks will contribute Teavana’s tea
expertise, industry-leading retail activation, and consumer engagement
capabilities, and Anheuser-Busch will lead production, bottling, and distribution
to retailers nationwide in partnership with its long-standing and
well-established network of wholesalers.”
So
just what does that mean? It means that
since U.S. Starbucks locations have sold more than $1 billion of handcrafted
Teavana tea beverages, representing 11 percent growth in year-over-year sales.
That is will not be long until that $1 billion dollar product line can be found
at C-stores, Drug stores, Grocery stores and even though it’s a non-alcohol
product you will be able to find it a select liquor stores as well.
Howard
Schultz, chairman and chief executive officer at Starbucks stated “Tea has been an important part of Starbucks
heritage since we opened our doors as Starbucks Coffee, Tea and Spices in the
Pike Place Market in 1971,” … “When we acquired Teavana in 2012, we saw a
unique opportunity to do for tea what Starbucks has done for coffee and expand
the Teavana brand across many customer experiences and products.”
“Starbucks’
excels at brand building and leadership in premium tea, combined with
Anheuser-Bush’s world-class production capabilities and strong U.S.
distribution footprint, will create a platform for strong incremental growth.
Success does leave clues and once
again Starbucks is leading by example.
Have you identified, quantified, or qualified a new niche, product line,
or avenue of distribution lately?
Foodservice Solutions® can help. Visit www.FoodserviceSolutions.us or Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us
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