Reuters spotlights Starbucks’ Via instant coffee sales

Reuters was first to take a critical look at Starbucks Via instant coffee sales, which zoomed to $100 million in 10 months, faster than the company and Wall Street expected. Reuters wrote in a story on Aug 19 that a true read of demand has been clouded by some stores offering free drinks in exchange for Via purchases. The story was picked up by investor blogs, foodie blogs, food news aggregators and mainstream publications like Canadas National Post. After the story ran, the author heard from about a dozen Starbucks customers, employees and former employees saying that they had seen the activity at their stores.