Starbucks Coffee Co.

Seattle -- Starbucks Corp. announced Thursday plans to reinvent the $1.6 billion premium juice market with its all-cash purchase of San Bernadino, Calif.-based Evolution Fresh for $30 million.

The acquisition, which is part of a strategy to move beyond coffee into the health and wellness segment, gives Starbucks a path to open new health-and-wellness stores in the coming year, it said, although Starbucks has not yet revealed many stores it will open, their location or the name.

Seattle -- Starbucks Corp.’s fiscal fourth-quarter profit jumped nearly 29%, beating Wall Street estimates on strong sales around the globe. The company earned $358.5 million in the quarter, up from $278.9 million last year. Revenue rose 7% to $3 billion, with some benefit from foreign exchange rates. Same-store sales increased 9%, with a 10% rise in the United States.

New York City -- Starbucks Coffee Co. celebrated the opening of its 500th location in China. The store is located at the international departure hall of the Beijing Capital International Airport Terminal 3.

“The opening of our 500th store in China is a significant milestone in our ambitious growth plans to serve our customers through 1,500 stores by 2015,” said Belinda Wong, president, Starbucks China.
 

Seattle -- Starbucks Coffee Company is teaming up with the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN)  to launch a “Create Jobs for USA” fund. 

Starting Nov.1, the new initiative will pool donations from Starbucks customers, partners (employees) and citizens into a nationwide fund for community business lending. One-hundred percent of the donations will go toward loans for firms and organizations that can add jobs or stem job losses, Starbucks said. 

New York City -- Starbucks Coffee Co. plans to expand in Latin America after concentrating in recent past years more on Asia, founder and CEO Howard Schultz said at a presentation in Madrid, Bloomberg reported.

The chain as about $2 billion in cash to invest in an “aggressive and opportunistic way,” Schultz said, and is especially interested in Brazil, according to the report.

By Jonathan Cobb, [email protected]

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has never shied away from supporting causes he believes in. But he has really gone on the offensive with his latest passions: political gridlock and the jobs crisis.

Seattle -- Seattle's Best Coffee, which is owned by Starbucks, has opened 12 stores since April, bringing it to almost 100 locations in the United States and Canada. The expansion reflects the chain’s strategy to build upon the brand’s broad distribution network of franchised locations, company-operated stores, relationships with restaurant chains, and foodservice locations.