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Smartmoney.com: McDonald’s is testing high-end coffee in restaurants, and analysts say it’s a matter of time before that company and other U.S. fast-food chains start offering a better brew.
Profits on specialty coffee, a nearly $9 billion a year retail market in the U.S., are too large for the chains to ignore.
Test Results Positive So Far
“McDonald’s is testing premium-quality coffee in select markets across the U.S. and we’re giving customers an opportunity to say what they think,” said Bill Whitman, spokesman for McDonald’s in Oak Brook, Ill. “We haven’t set a date for a national rollout. We continue to learn from the tests, and results so far have been positive.”
The company’s coffee sales have risen in recent years, “and it’s not just people coming in for breakfast coffee anymore – they’re coming in throughout the day,” Whitman observed. “We serve 23 million U.S. customers each day and want to meet their needs at a value price. We’re interested in competing with ourselves, not other companies.”
Jack Russo, beverage analyst at A.G. Edwards in St. Louis, said McDonald’s is trying to upgrade some of its current menu offerings. “They’re looking at what they can do better, and coffee is one of those items. They’re not going to try to compete with Starbucks.”
McDonald’s Mulls Switch to Gourmet Coffee [Smartmoney.com]