Kansas City Food Blog

​Last week, a series of stories focused on how Starbucks baristas were bristling at being forced to push the coffee shop's new instant brew product, Via, to each customer.

I stopped in the Starbucks at Ward Parkway to see if that was the case. The store was pushing Via in displays, but the marketing effort was no more overbearing than previous holiday offerings or seasonal goods. 

The way I see it, Starbucks has become as much of a coffee retailer as a coffee shop. While the stores are centered around coffee, promos and displays of peripheral goods like branded mugs, coffeemakers and pop culture items (books, CDs) are hard to escape. And for me, Via instant coffee falls into that category of takeaway items that makes a Starbucks no different from the lobby of a Cracker Barrel.

So when the barista asked if I had tried Via, I didn't take offense and it didn't seem any more egregious than an offer to upsize. I wasn't handed a package of Via or made to feel like I was being pressured into a purchase. Starbucks has always been a fast-food retailer, selling a to-go product. And the push to market Via simply feels like the coffee chain has finally caught on to that fact. 

[Image via Flickr: senor Via]