SEATTLE, March 03, 2010 - Six months after Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) introduced Starbucks VIA® Ready Brew in the U.S. and Canada the Company announced today it will launch Starbucks VIA® throughout Company-operated and licensed locations in the U.K. on March 8 and Japan on April 14. Customers in the U.S. and Canada have embraced this new product offering, and have become repeat purchasers as they discover that Starbucks quality coffee can be enjoyed anytime and anywhere. Building on this momentum, the company continues to expand Starbucks VIA® into grocery, mass and drug accounts in the U.S. and expects distribution to double to 30,000 locations by the end of the third quarter of Fiscal 2010.