From Brandweek magazine:Are consumers giving up on coffee? The evidence is all around us: Procter & Gamble last month announced it was spinning off its Folgers brand because the brand's sluggish sales were depressing (rather than stimulating) growth.
Super-investor Nelson Peltz has been pressuring Kraft to do the same with its Maxwell House brand for the same reason. Meanwhile, the coffee industry's big dog, Starbucks, has been doing what many once thought impossible—closing stores.
Just about the only brand that seems to be benefitting from the shakeout is McDonald's, whose success with its coffee (and its heralded better-than-Starbucks ranking in Consumer Reports) seems overstated. After all, McD's franchisees aren't required to install coffee bars, so it seems unlikely that the Golden Arches will set off a caffeine junkie's radar the way that mermaid does.
So, are people abandoning coffee? Maybe. ...
... There's not all that much mystery as to why growth at Maxwell House and Folgers has slowed: Its user base is either dying off or, on doctor's orders, is cutting back.
(Get the whole story here.)
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2 comments:
his issue brings up a pet peeve of mine, comparing a cup of McDonald’s coffee with a Starbuck’s latte.
they may start out as the same bean but they are far different once they are concocted. Like comparing Crystal Palace Vodka and a Grey Goose martini, they may both be vodkas but they are far from the same thing.
A report on News Channel 13 tonight started out saying Starbucks was having trouble selling a $4 cup of coffee. well Starbucks does not sell a $4 cup of coffee, they sell a $1.50 cup of coffee and a $4 latte; huge difference. I happen to like their lattes but I do have to be selective about what time of day I purchase one because the caffeine will keep me up.
Thanks for letting me vent (or is that vente?).
Coffee is one of the few things that exist that suggest that there might be the smallest, minute, iota of a chance that some form of god might possibly exist.
Considering that the older I get, I am starting to see that this improbable creature might just have a cruel streak, as I can no longer slug down pots-full of the strong, black, unsweetened gift of benevolence. It is probably a curse for having doubted the dubious deity’s existence that I am now limited to two cups that have to be sweetened (Splenda) and buffered with some evaporated milk and hazelnut creamer to make it acceptable for my aging stomach, but not to my psyche.
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