SEATTLE -- Gourmet coffee purveyor Starbucks and automated coin-counting company Coinstar Inc. have teamed up to test an automated coffee machine under the Starbucks Seattle's Best Coffee label, reported Dow Jones.
Marci Maule, a Coinstar spokesperson, confirmed the partnership, but would give few details about the test, such as when it started or where the machines would be. She said financial details have not been disclosed.
A description of a prototype machine, along with a picture, is included in a report published Wednesday [image-nocss] by Eric Wold, an analyst for Merriman Curhan Ford. In the report, Wold said that the machine is located near an Albertson's store in Bellevue, Wash., which is where Coinstar is based.
Starbucks has said it is interested in developing an automated coffee machine, and even published a picture of one at an analyst meeting several years ago, Dow Jones said.
The picture published in Wold's report shows a kiosk with the logo of Seattle's Best Coffee. Wold said the kiosk allows customers to purchase anything from a regular cup of coffee to specialized espresso drinks, with prices ranging from $1.30 to $2.55.
Wold said he believes the kiosk could provide Starbucks with "the ability to penetrate additional third-party locations with both lower upfront capital costs and ongoing operating costs."
He added that if the prototype develops into an operating business, field service maintenance could likely be provided by Coinstar's existing coin-counting field service team.
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