Canada: McDonald's prepares to enter retail coffee market

McDonald's Canada has concluded a partnership with Kraft Canada to enter into supermarkets across the country with the McCafe brand.

By the end of the month the fast food chain will produce and distribute McCafe Premium Roast Coffee in multiple formats, including fine grind as well as single-cup brewing systems such as Tassimo and Keurig.

A similar move has recently been announced by McDonald's in the USA, but there the brand is not expected to hit shelves until 2015.

“There is no better way to connect with Canadians than with a great cup of coffee,” said John E. Betts, President and CEO of McDonald’s Canada. “By offering our McCafe Premium Roast coffee in a variety of formats on grocery shelves, we are making it even easier for our customers to integrate their favourite coffee into their everyday routines, building an even stronger connection to our brand”.

Brian Kerr, vice-president beverages for Kraft Canada, said in a statement:  “We’re excited to partner with McDonald’s Canada to help Canadian consumers enjoy their much-loved McCafe Premium Roast Coffee at home.  Now they can get it in the formats they want every time they go to their grocery store, Our partnership leverages each of our best-in-class capabilities and will ultimately help us drive category growth by delivering one of Canada’s largest, fastest-growing coffee brands to coffee lovers nationwide”.

Source: McDonald's / Canadian Grocer