Coffee giant Starbucks announced last week that they will provide coffee for in-room brewing systems in up to half a million U.S. hotel rooms, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Under the new agreement, Starbucks will be providing ground coffee for the CV1 single-cup coffee brewers already in about 500,000 luxury hotel rooms in the U.S.
The CV1 machines are owned and operated by Courtesy Products, a company which provides hotels with in-room amenities such as clock radios, ironing boards and coffee makers.
Starbucks will "continue to explore the many single-serve and on-the-go solutions and options available to us," said Jeff Hansberry, president of the coffee chain’s Consumer Products Group.
Although there are rumors that Starbucks may be in talks about producing coffee for the popular Keurig brand of single-serve coffee machines, neither company has confirmed this.
"The single-serve coffee category in the U.S., and much of the world for that matter, is in its beginning stages of development," said Hansberry. "At this very early stage, there are numerous contenders and no demonstrated, long-term winners related to either format or machines. Look for further announcements from Starbucks as we continue to expand our presence in the premium single-serve category."