Starbucks, Seattle, entered into an agreement with Courtesy Products, a provider of in-room coffee service to hotels, to provide Starbucks ground coffee for use in Courtesy’s CV1 in-room and on-demand brewed coffee system.
The agreement with Courtesy Products is the first in Starbucks’ planned expansion into the premium single-serve category, said Jeff Hansberry, president of Starbucks Consumer Products Group.
“The single-serve coffee category in the U.S., and much of the world for that matter, is in its beginning stages of development,” Hansberry said, in a statement. “At this very early stage, there are numerous contenders and no demonstrated, long-term winners related to either format or machines. Following our very successful introduction of Starbucks Via Ready Brew in the U.S. and into a growing number of international markets, Starbucks will continue to explore the many single-serve and on-the-go solutions and options available to us, and to participate in those where we can better and more conveniently serve our customers wherever they may be.”
Starbucks plans to begin offering its coffee for the CV1 this fall. The CV1 system is available in approximately 500,000 luxury and premium hotel rooms in the U.S., the company said.
