DALLAS -- 7-Eleven Inc. has launched Fusion Defense coffee, a brew with herbal extracts, in anticipation of this year's cold and flu season.
The introduction comes just months after the company introduced Fusion Energy, which it said it believes is the first herb-enhanced coffee-to-go in the United States.
The product is available at participating stores except in Texas, Colorado, Utah, Arizona and southern Nevada. 7-Eleven stores in these areas will introduce instead Exclusive Bold coffee, a rich, full-bodied blend, similar to [image-nocss] the coffee sold at 7-Eleven stores in the Northeast.
Available this fall, fresh-brewed Fusion Defense is infused with echinacea, ginseng and astragalus, three herbs thought to help boost the body's immune system.
Fusion coffees taste as great as other 7-Eleven coffees, but provide customers with an entirely new coffee alternative, said Donald Driver, 7-Eleven category manager for hot beverages. Our Fusion line offers us so many new beverage opportunities. We're looking at other herbal blends to offer consumers in response to their desires for a variety of health-related attributes.
While the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has not evaluated these herbs for effectiveness, benefits that have been claimed for each herb include:
Ginseng: One of the most popular herbs used worldwide today, Asian ginseng is native to China and Korea and is used to increase stamina and energy during physical activity, improve memory and learning, boost immunity and reduce effects of stress. Astragalus: Popular in China, astragalus' yellow root contains compounds that are believed to stimulate the immune system and, in clinical tests, have been found to promote the formation of antibodies and increase production of white blood cells. Benefits may include prevention of and decrease in symptoms caused by common colds and upper respiratory infections, heart failure, kidney ailments, and Alzheimer's and liver disease. Echinacea: Better known in North America as the purple coneflower, Echinacea is believed to stimulate the immune system and has traditionally been used to treat or prevent colds, flu and other infections and, less commonly, for skin problems.
Fusion Defense coffee features a darker, richer roast of Arabica beans than Fusion Energy, which is more comparable in taste to 7-Eleven Exclusive Blend, the retailer's most popular brew. 7-Eleven's Dark Mountain Roast coffee is the base coffee blend for Fusion Defense.
Fusion Energy is infused with guarana, ginseng and yerba mat a, all herbs thought to boost energy and sharpen mental alertness. Driver said it will remain in the coffee lineup while other Fusion coffees are rotated in and out of the stores and for as long as customers want the product.
When we launched Fusion Energy earlier this year, it really captured the attention of 7-Eleven coffee drinkers, Driver said. Introducing Fusion Defense is a logical choice for us to offer now because coffee sales perk up in the fall when temperatures drop, and the cold and flu season begins.
According to the National Coffee Association's 2006 study on coffee-drinking trends, Americans are gaining awareness of recent medical findings about the health benefits of drinking coffee. More than half (53%) responded that they had heard the good news about coffee and health versus just over one-third (37%) in 2005. In 2007, those numbers continue to grow, 7-Eleven sad, with more than two-thirds of Americans regarding coffee as a natural beverage.
7-Eleven said coffee roasters blend the proprietary mixture of herbs for the Fusion Energy and Fusion Defense varieties with the fresh-roasted, fresh-ground coffees to stringent specifications. Both Fusion offerings retail for the same price as every other hot beverage served at their stores.
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