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Starbucks stirs up new gourmet cocoa
Coffee juggernaut's latest product is a hot chocolate drink named after an Aztec goddess.
October 14, 2004: 12:19 PM EDT

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Coffee chain Starbucks has a new beverage coming out early next year. It's a hot chocolate concoction called "Chantico," named after the Aztec goddess of the hearth, a published report said Thursday.

USA Today reported that the beverage will initially debut in Starbucks on Jan. 8 in all of its locations in the U.S. and Canada.

Unlike hot chocolate, which is made from cocoa powder, Chantico is steamed with cocoa butter and whole milk, the paper said.

The drink is aimed at attracting chocoholics rather than appealing to diet-conscious consumers. A 6-ounce cup of Chantico is expected to contain 390 calories, 21 grams of fat and 51 carbs, the report said.

Starbucks is expected to offer more details about the new beverage at its bienniel analysts meeting Thursday.

"This will establish Starbucks as somebody who will be in the chocolate category in a bigger way," the paper quoted Rob Grady, Starbucks' director of hot beverages, as saying.

Starbucks's sales last year topped $5 billion, most of it from coffee. With Chantico, Starbucks may be trying to fix a problem that has long nagged the company: getting customers into their stores at midday and after dinner, the paper said.

Separately, Starbucks upped its long-term store-growth forecast to 30,000 stores worldwide, up from its earlier forecast of 25,000 stores.

Chairman Howard Schultz told analysts Thursday that the additionally 5,000 new store capacity was primarily focused in the domestic market.

The meeting was monitored in New York via a webcast.

The company also reiterated its plans to open 1,500 new stores globally in its fiscal 2005 and forecast revenues to grow 20 percent. Starbucks said it expects to grow comparable sales between 3 to 7 percent, with full-year profits next year estimated to be between $1.12 to $1.15 a share.

Analysts on average expects Starbucks to earn $1.16 a share for its next fiscal year.

The retailer currently operates nearly 6,000 stores in the United States.  Top of page




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