Via replaced by ground...coffee

Starbucks offers customers option to replace Via | Chicago Breaking Business: "Seattle-based coffee giant Starbucks will offer customers who don’t like Starbucks Via Ready Brew the option of replacing it with a 12-ounce bag of ground coffee.

Starbucks will announce the promotion tomorrow. It will run through August.

Via is Starbucks’ instant coffee product, which currently includes Italian, Columbian, and decaffeinated varieties, as well as several flavors.

The move is the latest one for the instant coffee product, which earned Starbucks $135 million in its first year on the market. The products were introduced in late 2009 in Starbucks cafes and a few select chains. In May of 2010, Via expanded to 30,000 locations, including grocery stores.

In a statement, Starbucks global chief marketing officer Annie Young-Scrivner said the promotion shows “how strongly we feel about Starbucks Via Ready Brew and how committed we are to customer satisfaction.”"