Is Starbucks trying to woo Tim’s regulars by going blonde?
adriana barton Globe and Mail Blog Tuesday, January 24, 2012
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Starbucks is out to gobble up even more market share by targeting coffee lovers who don’t care for its signature burnt taste.
The java giant is betting that would-be customers will prefer “blondes.” Starbucks’s new “Blonde” roast promises to be “lighter, mellower and more subtle” – and remarkably similar to the brew favoured by Tim Hortons fans, Macleans reports.
In an online video, two of Starbucks “master roasters” describe the lighter blend thus: “It kind of dances on your tongue in a different way than any other Starbucks coffee,” and “it’s for the person who always wished that Starbucks had a roast like this.”
That “person” is the Tim Hortons regular who starts each day with a double-double, argues Macleans columnist Jessica Allen.
And with a milder (read: insipid) roast on offer, Starbucks will finally have the seniors market covered. In a Starbucks blog post about the new roast, the company’s global coffee category manager acknowledges that her own dad “typically finds some of our coffees a little too dark for his tastes.”
Quick-serve coffee is black gold. Each year, Canadians buy 1.5 billion cups of the murky stuff, making it the nation’s most popular beverage, The Globe and Mail reported.
More on link
adriana barton Globe and Mail Blog Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Article Link
Starbucks is out to gobble up even more market share by targeting coffee lovers who don’t care for its signature burnt taste.
The java giant is betting that would-be customers will prefer “blondes.” Starbucks’s new “Blonde” roast promises to be “lighter, mellower and more subtle” – and remarkably similar to the brew favoured by Tim Hortons fans, Macleans reports.
In an online video, two of Starbucks “master roasters” describe the lighter blend thus: “It kind of dances on your tongue in a different way than any other Starbucks coffee,” and “it’s for the person who always wished that Starbucks had a roast like this.”
That “person” is the Tim Hortons regular who starts each day with a double-double, argues Macleans columnist Jessica Allen.
And with a milder (read: insipid) roast on offer, Starbucks will finally have the seniors market covered. In a Starbucks blog post about the new roast, the company’s global coffee category manager acknowledges that her own dad “typically finds some of our coffees a little too dark for his tastes.”
Quick-serve coffee is black gold. Each year, Canadians buy 1.5 billion cups of the murky stuff, making it the nation’s most popular beverage, The Globe and Mail reported.
More on link
