On February 17, 2011, Starbucks signaled plans for further expansion in the single- serve coffee market by signing a deal with Courtesy Products. a provider in-room coffee service to hotels. Starbucks had already made a foray into single-serve coffee in 2009 with lhe development of its VIA instant coffee. Because of the alliance with Courtesy Products Starbucks coinee will now be available in as many as 500.000 luxury hotel rooms nation- wide. Single-serve coffee is seen as attractive beeause it is still a relatively new market with big growth potential. Single-serve coffee pods rang up $180 million in sales at supermarkets. drug stores, and mass merchandisers, excluding Wal-Mart, Inc.. in the 52 weeks October 3, 2010. Analyst Mitchell Pinheiro in commenting on Starbucks' chances of com peting with Green Mountain's Keurig division, which produces home-brewing machines, ested while Starbucks could decide to launch its own brewer or partner with someone other than Keurig. the quickest and most effective way for Starbucks to gain traction in the single-cup coffee segment is through Keurig.