Coke is getting into coffee

[boghog]

I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing:

Coca-Cola brews up a coffee business
A five-year odyssey of globe-trotting and brainstorming leads to a `café in a box'

[...]

Faced with stagnating demand for soft drinks and increased competition in bottled water, Coca-Cola Co. set out to enter the lucrative, fast-growing market for premium hot brews.

But how to do that turned into a five-year odyssey that took a team of Coca-Cola executives around the globe and led to creation of an innovative concept dubbed "the café in a box."

Instead of tackling the premium-coffee market head on with a string of Starbuck's-like coffee shops, as some observers had expected, Coca-Cola decided to leverage its existing relationships in pop, water and juice.

By creating an easy to operate and maintain "box," Coca-Cola says, anyone from the convenience-store operator to the fine-restaurant chef can offer customers a range of premium specialty coffees and teas at the press of a button.

Coca-Cola will also supply the coffees, teas and hot chocolate that go into the box, under the brand name Far Coast for the higher-end leisure market, and Chaqwa for the convenience market.

[His Worshipper]

wat? that sounds stupid, of all people they make coffee...

[Qwertyuiopasd]

It dosen't sound like its just "zomg we have to make coffee", but its a bona fide innovation.

one thing....

By creating an easy to operate and maintain "box," Coca-Cola says, anyone from the convenience-store operator to the fine-restaurant chef can offer customers a range of premium specialty coffees and teas at the press of a button.

we also have voice recognition software, which could be used instead of a button.


star trek anyone?

[Dr. Otis Lansa]

Isn't this reinventing the wheel? I've seen apparently similar machines in corporate offices. There's no doubt the branding will help them dominate the market, but it's just a coffee machine at the end of the day, no?

[Bob the Unbeliever]

Here in Oklahoma, Quick-Trip corporation is 'waaaaay ahead of Coke-corp on this one.

Several years ago, QT did a major stores-wide remodel, and installed a whole bank of coffee dispensers. Between each bank, is a "flavor machine" and a bank of alternative-to-coffee-hot-drink dispensers.

Thus, when you go into QT for a quick cuppa-joe, you're faced with a plethora of coffees, flavorings, hot-chocolates and other hot-drink choices.

As for me: I LIKE it! I'm one who prefers VERY dark coffee, the darker the better. With the choices available, I usually have one that is about 1/2 dark enough for me

And, I just love a squirt of chocolate in my coffee, and that is available, too.

All at the reasonable price of $0.60 (that's for a refill, what else would a liberal, earth-hugger do, mmm? )

[darren996]

In Japan they have drink machines all over the place. You can get hot coffee, cold coffee and even cold beer on just about any street corner in town. Coca-cola must be trying to do the same thing in the US.

[Al Dante]

I'm very disappointed in this topic. When I read the thread title, I thought you were going to report that cocaine was contaminating the coffee supply (and asking whether that was a good thing or a bad thing).

- tropicAL

[Etay]

Personally, I couldn't care less. If it's horrible, I won't drink it, let alone buy it. If it's good, I might give it a try.

[Cardinal Fang]

Sooooo.... if Coke moves into selling coffee.... that's more trade unionists and "dangerous" peasant farmers they can be involved in persecuting, torturing and murdering. (allegedly)

http://www.killercoke.org/

CF