Los Angeles, Aug 27 - Starbucks Corp, which is rolling out new drinks as it restructures its flagging U.S. business, said on Tuesday it began selling specialty coffee brewed with its new Clover machines in 10 Seattle coffee shops.
The coffee company, which is closing 600 underperforming U.S. stores as competition from fast food companies like McDonald's Corp mounts, said it plans to expand sales of Clover coffee to markets such as Boston and Seattle in coming months.
Starbucks will sell individual servings of Clover coffee brewed from high-quality beans that are available for a limited time in small batches. The price will range from $2 to $4 per cup -- higher than for standard drip coffee, but closer to prices for Starbucks' espresso drinks.
Starbucks became a household name by hooking Americans on espresso, lattes and other higher-end coffee drinks. But as the company grew, its many stores began to steal sales from each other and rivals started rolling out competing products -- often at lower prices.
Seattle-based Starbucks bought Clover maker Coffee Equipment Co in April amid a renewed push to introduce new products that set the company apart from rivals.