Seattle’s Best Coffee Reaches Milestone Goal of Establishing 30,000 Places to Enjoy a Cup of Its Coffee

Published on Thursday, 02 September 2010 19:27 Written by TradersHuddle Staff

SEATTLE-( Business Wire )-

Seattle’s Best Coffee, part of Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX), today announced that it has reached a major milestone in the strategic plan it outlined earlier this year, achieving its goal of establishing 30,000 places where consumers can enjoy a freshly-brewed cup of Seattle’s Best Coffee®. The milestone represents a ten-fold increase since March and reflects a diverse channel approach including company-operated stores, franchised locations, relationships with leading retail and restaurant chains, and food service locations.

Notable relationships during the last six months include new or expanded distribution with:

• Subway Restaurants, with more than 20,000 locations in the US and Canada;
• AMC Theatres, with more than 300 locations in the US;
• BURGER KING, with more than 7,500 restaurants in the US and Canada; and
• Mac’s Convenience Stores (a division of Alimentation Couche-tard, inc), with 600 locations in Western and Central Canada.

These join existing agreements with Alaska Airlines, Royal Caribbean International and Borders bookstores.

Under the new Starbucks Corporation multi-brand portfolio strategy unveiled earlier this year, Seattle’s Best Coffee is accelerating its growth to reach new customers and occasions. Key to the Seattle’s Best Coffee growth strategy is a complete revitalization of the 40-year-old brand and a new business direction that fully leverages its multi-channel strategy to bring great coffee everywhere.

“Seattle’s Best Coffee is the premium coffee brand to watch right now. We’re delighted to have reached our initial goal of 30,000 places consumers can enjoy our coffee, but we consider that the first step toward 100,000 or more,” said Michelle Gass, president of Seattle’s Best Coffee. “We’re succeeding because we’re giving consumers what they want today, great coffee they can easily enjoy, and we’re opening the door for retailers and franchisees to participate in the growing premium coffee category. They’re seeing very quickly that Seattle’s Best Coffee can help make a big impact on their businesses.”

Gass added that she also expects the franchising and packaged goods businesses to play a significant role in the brand’s growth. In the last twelve months, Seattle’s Best Coffee has seen a ten-fold increase in interest among potential franchisees, which reflects a growing trend among consumers in the premium coffee category. In addition, the brand can be found at more than 20,000 retail grocery locations.

About Seattle’s Best Coffee

Seattle’s Best Coffee, LLC has been roasting premium coffee since 1970. Seattle’s Best Coffee is currently available in more than 550 cafes and kiosks as well as locations such as college campuses, restaurants, hotels, airlines, cruise ships, bookstores, grocery stores and movie theatres. The company is rapidly expanding the distribution of its premium coffee. Seattle’s Best Coffee is a featured brand within Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX). For more information, please visit Seattle’s Best Coffee online at www.seattlesbest.com.

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Seattle’s Best CoffeeJenny McCabe, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.