Starbucks

Starbucks fourth-quarter profit jumped nearly 29 percent on stronger sales of its coffee. The Seattle company said it earned $358.5 million, or 47 cents per share, up from $278.9 million, or 37 cents per share, last year. The results beat estimates of 36 cents on revenue of $2.95 billion. Starbucks said revenue from stores open at least a year rose 9 percent as customers came in more often and spent more.

For legions of campers present and past, "bug juice" was the sweetened fruit punch, usually red or purple, that was made from a powdered mix and served in lieu of more nutritious beverages in summertime mess tents all over America. That old term came to mind when Starbucks Corp. bowed to public pressure recently and abandoned the use of carmine, a red food coloring made from crushed beetles. Especially in the world of social media, this episode suggests, even the savviest of marketers still has much to learn.

Starbucks is under fire this week for revealing that its Strawberries & Crème Frappuccino and strawberry-flavored smoothies contain cochineal extract -- a red dye made out of dried, crushed, female cochineal beetles. This news has enraged some vegetarian groups that were under the impression the products, when ordered with soy milk, contained no animal products. "We are very, very unhappy to now report that the Strawberries & Crème Frappuccino as well as the Strawberry Smoothies (both made with soy milk)

Starbucks Corp., the world's largest coffee shop chain, fell on the news that second-quarter same-store sales trailed analysts' estimates amid weaker demand in Europe. Sales at stores open at least 13 months rose 7 percent globally, below projections of 8.2 percent. Such sales fell 1 percent in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa amid "slight decreases" in transactions and average check, Starbucks said.

For legions of campers present and past, "bug juice" was the sweetened fruit punch, usually red or purple, that was made from a powdered mix and served in lieu of more nutritious beverages in summertime mess tents all over America. That old term came to mind when Starbucks Corp. bowed to public pressure recently and abandoned the use of carmine, a red food coloring made from crushed beetles. Especially in the world of social media, this episode suggests, even the savviest of marketers still has much to learn.

SEATTLE -- Starbucks Corp. will start selling packages of premium "drinking chocolate" nuggets in US grocery stores and other retail outlets this fall after an exorbitantly rich chocolate drink failed in stores two years ago. Starbucks, which has teamed up with Hershey Co., also plans to roll out a line of chocolate candies next spring that will include a coffee-infused premium dark chocolate bar, milk chocolate squares with flecks of...

SEATTLE - Competition between Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts has gone beyond mochas and lattes to high-level executives. Paul Twohig of Hilton Head, S.C., a former Starbucks Coffee US senior vice president hired by Dunkin’ Donuts, has agreed to pay $500,000 to settle a lawsuit that accused him of violating a noncompetition agreement, according a written statement issued by Stacey Krum, a spokeswoman for Starbucks. Twohig also promised not to share Starbucks Corp. trade secrets or other confidential information with Dunkin’, a division of Dunkin’ Brands Inc. of...

SEATTLE - Starbucks Corp. will start serving up a new "everyday" brew today, hoping the signature blend will help revive slumping sales in its crucial US market. To celebrate the launch, it will give away free 8-ounce cups of Pike Place Roast - named after its first store in Seattle's public market - from 12 to 12:30 p.m. In a statement yesterday, chairman and chief executive Howard Schultz promoted Pike Place Roast, citing its bold flavor, smooth finish, and "subtle, rich flavors of cocoa and toasted nuts.

SEATTLE - Carly Simon is suing Starbucks Corp., saying the coffee company’s now-defunct music venture did not adequately promote her 2008 album, dooming it before it was even released. The singer, whose biggest success came during the 1970s and ’80s with hits like “You’re So Vain,’’ seeks unspecified damages related to the release of “This Kind of Love’’ in April 2008. In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles, Simon said the album was not available in “a substantial number’’ of Starbucks stores during the key early months following its release.

SEATTLE - Starbucks Corp. is testing several promotions in stores across the country, a move it hopes will help counter the drop in domestic store traffic that led to a decision to close 600 stores. "One of the things we're consistently hearing in this day and age [is], even though budgets are tight, they still don't want to give up life's little luxuries," said Brad Stevens, vice president of customer relationship management at Starbucks, yesterday. The promotions vary by region and timing.

Starbucks Corp. perked up its net income by 18 percent in its fiscal second quarter, as more customers visited its cafes in most parts of the world. The coffee giant also raised its forecast for the year on the better-than-expected results. The Seattle-based company's stock nevertheless slid 5 percent in after-market trading as sales showed weakness in parts of Europe. For the quarter, Starbucks said Thursday that global revenue at cafes open at least a year increased by 7 percent, as a result of more customers and higher spending per visit.

WASHINGTON - Starbucks Corp., the largest coffee-shop chain, plans to stop using an extract made of dried insects to color some Frappuccinos and pastries after an online campaign asked for the ingredient to be removed. US stores will phase out by June the use of a red dye derived from cochineal insects, a tropical bug found in Mexico and South America. The colorant will be replaced with lycopene, a tomato extract, the Seattle company said. More than 6,500 people signed a Change.org petition asking Starbucks to stop using the insects...

Starbucks Corp. says it will stop using a red dye in its drinks that is derived from crushed bugs. The Seattle-based coffee chain said in a blog post on its website Thursday that it made the decision to reformulate its drinks after feedback from consumers prompted a "thorough" evaluation. The company says it will swap out cochineal extract, which is made from the juice of a tiny beetle, and instead use lycopene, a tomato-based extract. Cochineal dye is widely used in foods and cosmetics products such as lipstick, yogurt and shampoo.

Starbucks is under fire this week for revealing that its Strawberries & Crème Frappuccino and strawberry-flavored smoothies contain cochineal extract -- a red dye made out of dried, crushed, female cochineal beetles. This news has enraged some vegetarian groups that were under the impression the products, when ordered with soy milk, contained no animal products. "We are very, very unhappy to now report that the Strawberries & Crème Frappuccino as well as the Strawberry Smoothies (both made with soy milk)

SEATTLE - Starbucks Corp. is pushing beyond coffee with the opening of the first Evolution Fresh Inc. juice store, the company said Monday. Starbucks, which is looking for new businesses for growth, purchased the California-based juice maker in November for $30 million. Evolution Fresh had been selling its juices in grocery stores such as Whole Foods groceries. The first Evolution Fresh store is in Bellevue, Wash. Aside from juices, Starbucks says Evolution Fresh shops will have wraps, soups, salads, vegetarian and vegan options, and other offerings.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc., facing an increasing number of rivals for its Keurig coffee machines, declined the most in almost four months after Starbucks Corp. announced plans to start selling a single-cup coffee system. Shares of Green Mountain were down about 15 percent to $52.78 in early afternoon trading in New York, after earlier dropping as much as 17 percent for the biggest intraday decline since Nov. 10. The shares had gained 39 percent this year before today.

CHICAGO - Starbucks Corp., the world's largest coffee shop chain, will sell beer and wine at more locations to lure customers during the slower afternoon and evening hours. The chain, which first served alcohol in October 2010 at a Seattle store, will sell beer and wine in up to 25 locations by the end of this year, the Seattle company said yesterday. Stores in Chicago, Atlanta, and Southern California are among the new locations, Starbucks said. The specific stores have been "carefully selected" and are larger and have more seating than regular Starbucks sites, Clarice Turner, senior vice...

A slick business-world type gets mystically linked to a Bodhi tree that loses another leaf with every word he speaks; and if the tree dies, so will he. Haven't we seen this Jim Carrey movie a few times before? "A Thousand Words" nominally freshens things up by dropping Eddie Murphy into the role of guy-with-a-high-concept predicament. Puzzlingly, though, the movie neglects a few of the paint-by-numbers elements it ultimately needs for the story to click. Murphy's Jack McCall is an LA literary agent (books, not screenplays, go figure)

The Beverly police officer shot two weeks ago by a Hamilton police sergeant could be released from the hospital soon, but faces long-term rehabilitation, Police Chief Mark Ray said Thursday. Ray visited Jason Lantych Tuesday in Beverly Hospital, where Lantych is recovering from gunshot wounds to his wrist and upper thigh. Lantych was shot Feb. 24 by Hamilton Sergeant Kenneth Nagy, 43, outside a Starbucks in North Beverly. Nagy fled, then returned later to the Starbucks parking lot, where he killed himself.