McDonald's may soon start selling its coffee beans in packages at supermarkets which can be used for home brewing, as it continues its drive into the convenience grocery market.
Burger Business is reporting that on Sept. 18, a U.S. trademark registration was filed for the McDonald's name specifically covering ground and whole-bean coffee. The blog sought, but did not obtain, confirmation for the product launch from McDonald's public relations team.
"In 2010, then-McDonald's President (now CEO) Don Thompson told analysts that coffee's share of McDonald's U.S. sales had grown from 2% in 2004 to more than 6%. That share likely has further grown in the past two years as the McCafe brand has expanded, but even if it has remained flat, coffee represents nearly $2.1 billion of McDonald's 2011 U.S. sales of nearly $34.2 billion," the report reads.
The market for packaged beans is already very competitive. Coffee-focused Starbucks and Green Mountain Coffee are two of the five biggest players, according to a August 2012 report by IBISWorld.
Meanwhile, other multinational food giants like Smuckers, Kraft and Nestle are also in the coffee business with their Folgers, Maxwell House and Nescafe brands respectively. All these competitors will make it hard for even McDonald's to break into the market.
According to a Huffington Post report, the at-home coffee market is worth $10 billion annually in the US alone, with a profit margin near 30 percent. It is currently growing at an estimated 5 percent a year.
