In 2008, Starbucks introduced a new coffee blend called Pike Place Roast that would be brewed every day, all day, in every Starbucks store. Before then Starbucks rotated coffees through its brewed lineup, sometimes switching them weekly, sometimes daily. While some customers liked the ever changing variety, the feedback from a majority of customers indicated a preference for a consistent brew that customers could count on when they came into a Starbucks store. Pike Place Roast was created by Starbucks master roasters and coffee quality team using input from nearly 1,000 customers it was smoother than Starbucks other signature dark roast coffee varieties. In January 1012, after eight months of testing over 80 different recipe and roast iterations, Starbucks introduced three blends of lighter bodied and milder tasting Starbucks Blonde Roast coffees to better appeal to an estimated 54 million coffee drinkers in the U.S. who said they liked flavorful, lighter coffees with a gentle finish. The Blonde Roast blends were available as a brewed option in Starbucks stores in the U.S. and in packaged form in Starbucks stores and supermarkets. Because the majority of coffee sales in supermarkets were in the light and medium roast categories, Starbucks management saw its mew Blonde Roast coffees blends as being a $1 billion market opportunity in the U.S. alone.