Starbucks to Open Juice Bars in 2012
Fans of the world’s largest coffee chain may be pleased to know that Starbucks plans to open juice bars in 2012 after purchasing juice company Evolution Fresh for $30 million.
The first juice bars will open on the West Coast in early to mid-2012, but the company did not say how many were planned. Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz made his plans known to enter the estimated $50 billion health food market, although it isn’t known whether the company will use its familiar Mermaid logo on the new chain.
San Bernardino, California-based Evolution Fresh sells fruit and vegetable juices and was started by the founder of Naked Juice. It uses a heat-free, high-pressure pasteurization process that it says retains more of the nutrients in its products compared with using conventional heat pasteurization.
Starbucks will eventually invest in Evolution Fresh’s facility upgrades, and expects to sell the products in its own retail stores. “We think we can build a major business,†Schultz said.
Will you purchase products from a Starbucks juice bar?