In an effort to improve its food offerings, coffee giant Starbucks Corp. spent $100 million to acquire La Boulange, a French bakery in the San Francisco area.
The Starbucks management said that it will replace its current menu items with those from La Boulange starting early next year. Starbucks Americas president Cliff Burrows said, “We’ll take it one store at a time, starting in metropolitan areas around the U.S. where there’s demand.” Food items have also become an important part of Starbucks’ income in the past years. Currently, it generates $1.5 billion a year.
Starbucks Buys La Boulange Bakery
Image Credit: Starbucks Corp. and La Boulange Bakery
With increasing competition from fast food chains that now offers gourmet coffee, Starbucks has expanded its product line in the past few years such as its ice cream and Tazo-branded K-Cup portion packs. Earlier this year, the Seattle-based coffee shop chain announced its plan to open its first juice store, as well as its holiday season plan to sell a coffee machine called Verismo. This machine lets people make lattes and other drinks right in their homes. Starbucks’ acquisition of La Boulange definitely fits this strategy of expansion.
CEO Howard Schultz said in a statement, “After more than 40 years, we will be able to say that we are bakers too.”
La Boulange bakery serves salads and sandwiches in a casual sit-down setting. It has 19 locations in the Bay Area. Next World Group, an investment firm in San Francisco sold the chain to Starbucks.
