STARBUCKS INSTANT

As Howard Schultz contemplated introducing a Starbucks instant coffee last year, he knew he would face all sorts of skeptics—chief among them, his own employees.

Starbucks (SBUX), however diminished it might be these days, is still supposed to be about the experience of coffee: the ritual preparation, the sense of comfort, indulgence, and sometimes community. The company already sells packaged coffee and has opened drive-throughs. But to some, the notion of instant coffee seemed to threaten the brand in a different way altogether.
"It took a lot of courage to say that even though instant coffee is the worst cup of coffee you can have, we are going to reinvent it," Schultz said in July, as he was carefully planning the Sept. 29 launch of Via Ready Brew. "We've taken a lot of time with it because we know it could undermine the company if we don't do it right."

Researchers at Starbucks have been tinkering with instant coffee for almost two decades. The quest began elsewhere, though, with an immunologist named Don Valencia, who liked to experiment with coffee in his free time. Working in his own lab, Valencia managed to create an extract that proved flavorful enough to impress Schultz. By 1993, Schultz had hired him to run Starbucks' research and development effort. It was Valencia's extract that made it possible for Starbucks to develop its bottled Frappuccino and coffee ice cream. He spent years trying to create an instant coffee that passed the taste test and could be produced on a mass scale, but left the company a few years ago without having succeeded