McDonald's will begin selling bags of ground coffee at its restaurants in Canada from November onwards, a move that could spread to other regions around the world if proven profitable.
"We have no other plans to sell the coffee elsewhere at this time," a McDonald's spokesperson tells the WSJ.
McDonald's has been expanding its coffee and specialty-drink business since launching the "McCafe" menu in the U.S. about five years ago. According to the report, these "Frappes" and other flavored coffees have higher profit margins than most other McDonald's food items, leading to a boost in profit.
Last month, McDonald's filed for a trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for use of its name on ground and whole-bean coffee.
The world's biggest hamburger chain says the ground coffee will be available in the majority of its 1,400 stores by Nov. 8. The packages will weigh about 340 grams (about 12 ounces) and cost about 7 Canadian dollars ($7.04).
Starbucks operates about 1,100 locations in Canada, while Tim Hortons has more than 3,300. McDonald's introduced McCafe drinks in the country just last year. Betts says McDonald's was "not doing a good job" with coffee in the country, but has started to build a reputation through coffee give-away promotions that familiarized customers with the brand.
McDonald's has about 33,000 locations around the world.
