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Theory: Starbucks has partnered with Angry Birds to educate the public about NFC payments. Angry Birds: Magic is a new NFC toy which is about to be released.

Theory: Starbucks has partnered with Angry Birds to educate the public about NFC payments. Angry Birds: Magic is a new NFC toy which is about to be released. It makes sense for both companies that this toy is pitched at the checkout counter where a small placard invites all coffee drinkers to try a Starbucks branded NFC keyfob/giftcard combo. Prediction: This campaign works better than Via. They struggle to give that stuff away at the store I...attend.

cowpewter 15y ago
One the perks of being a regular at my usual Starbucks is that the barristas will quite frequently comp your drink if you buy a 3-pack of Via. With the Via being about 19 cents cheaper than my usual drink, it's a win-win for my wallet, and the barristas' sales quotas. Not sure how Starbucks itself makes out in that deal though. My desk drawer at work is full of Via packs.
- pasbesoin 15y ago
  I was sucked into one of in-store customer taste comparisons, when Via was launching. The Via was better than the brewed coffee -- no surprise to me; I've consistently found Starbucks in-store brewed coffee to be lousy. (I can do a lot better at home, with the same beans.) I never purchase Via, and neither do many others, I suspect, because at $1 or more per 8 oz cup, it just seems ridiculously expensive for instant coffee. (Even if it's comparable to the in-store price for a brewed cup -- and, as I mentioned, tastes better. If customers ever learn the latter.) I've read that they use a centrifuge to "dry" it, and so I don't know what the production costs are. But when I read that they are grinding beans very finely, rather than concocting an extract, and when I look at the physical quantity they are selling you, I can't help imagining that the margin on Via (minus marketing and all that crap) is exhorbitant. Perhaps one problem is that if they dropped the Via prices, they'd undercut their in-store sales. Anyway, Via's a decent product, but it seems to have limited opportunity under its current marketing.

cowpewter 15y ago

One the perks of being a regular at my usual Starbucks is that the barristas will quite frequently comp your drink if you buy a 3-pack of Via. With the Via being about 19 cents cheaper than my usual drink, it's a win-win for my wallet, and the barristas' sales quotas. Not sure how Starbucks itself makes out in that deal though. My desk drawer at work is full of Via packs.

pasbesoin 15y ago
I was sucked into one of in-store customer taste comparisons, when Via was launching. The Via was better than the brewed coffee -- no surprise to me; I've consistently found Starbucks in-store brewed coffee to be lousy. (I can do a lot better at home, with the same beans.) I never purchase Via, and neither do many others, I suspect, because at $1 or more per 8 oz cup, it just seems ridiculously expensive for instant coffee. (Even if it's comparable to the in-store price for a brewed cup -- and, as I mentioned, tastes better. If customers ever learn the latter.) I've read that they use a centrifuge to "dry" it, and so I don't know what the production costs are. But when I read that they are grinding beans very finely, rather than concocting an extract, and when I look at the physical quantity they are selling you, I can't help imagining that the margin on Via (minus marketing and all that crap) is exhorbitant. Perhaps one problem is that if they dropped the Via prices, they'd undercut their in-store sales. Anyway, Via's a decent product, but it seems to have limited opportunity under its current marketing.