I will admit it. I’m an instant coffee drinker. I know I’m not the only one in America, but I’m one of the few who will admit to it. I drink instant coffee because it’s easy to make, but also because I like my coffee fairly mild. I do have a strong preference for Taster’s Choice and Nescafé – so I do have some standards of sorts, but clearly they are not very high.
I first heard of Starbucks VIA last May when I won a raffle for a Starbucks gift card and the card came with a 3 individual samples of French Roast instant coffee. I tried them and they were great. The coffee has a rich flavor, stronger and more developed than any instant coffee I drink, but without the bitterness of the real thing. As far as instant coffees go, it’s by far my favorite.
But… it’s expensive. Ridiculously expensive, about 83-cents per cup, though if you buy it bulk you can get it down to 60-cents a cup. A cup of Taster’s Choice costs less than 10-cents by comparison. So needless to say, I haven’t been buying it.
Soon after I received my sample pack, I saw VIA at Safeway, and not too long after that, at Grocery Outlet. But even at Grocery Outlet it was too expensive, though I don’t remember exactly what the price was. Today I noticed that the 3-cup packages are down to 99-cents (though they expired in June). 33-cents a cup is not too bad, so I bought a few packages to have it as the occasional treat. Lately, I’m drinking tea anyway.
The biggest problem with VIA, besides the price, is all the needless packaging. I guess they need it to make you think you are getting more from your money than you really are. It’s unlikely that anyone seeing a $40 7-oz jar of VIA placed next to a $10 jar of Taster Choice would reach towards the former. But all of this means a lot of wasted materials which come at a significant environmental cost.
I’m sure that Starbucks did a lot of market research before introducing this product, but I just don’t see who it would appeal to.
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