Starting today, Tuesday, September 29, Starbucks will be offering an instant coffee called VIA under the Starbucks brand. Available only in their stores and on the internet, it comes as three or 12 single-serve packets.
Now, we will not get involved in why people who frequent Starbucks, or any coffee house for that matter, would want instant coffee, because presumably they are consumers who want better coffee than the drek usually found in, say, newsroom or hospital coffee pots, two types we're particularly familiar with. But nevertheless, Sbux thinks this is going to be a great thing.
When we were in Seattle, we happened to go into a Starbucks, something we find ourselves doing less and less, but in Seattle, it's a local business, right? This was early May, and there was the VIA being piloted. Big end-of-aisle display, of course. And then we saw it:
A large poster with step-by-step directions for how to make instant coffee. Five steps for a cup of instant coffee. No, we don't remember them all, but…what are we coming to when it requires large posters to teach folks how to make instant coffee?
–Ann