Abstract
Translate Abstract
Starbucks Coffee Co, Seattle, built its coffeehouse business on the idea of being the "third place" -- the community gathering spot outside of work and home. In the US, ready-to-drink coffee is a relatively new category, and it mostly belongs to the Starbucks/PepsiCo North American Coffee Partnership. If Starbucks stores am the community gathering place, and "Hot Boss" takes Starbucks to work and school, Kraft Foods covers the third location in that triumvirate, the take-home market. One of Starbucks' newest partnerships is both a beverage and food venture. The company teamed with Hershey to create a line of chocolates, including drinking chocolates and confections, that carry the tagline "When coffee dreams, it dreams of chocolate." Also on the indulgent side, the Starbuck's partnership with Beam Global Spirits & Wine has produced two liqueurs that have taken the Starbucks brand into unexpected places such as bars and cocktail lounges.