Starbucks in Japan promotes black coffee and sells it all the way to convenience stores.

This is the product of cooperation with Suntory.

If you travel to Japan now, you may see a bottled drink called Starbucks Black Coffee on the container in the convenience store. It is not a fake, but a new partnership between Starbucks Japan and local company Suntory.

Although Starbucks, which entered the Japanese market 20 years ago, began to launch RTD bottled drinks 10 years ago, the difference this time is that instead of doing it alone, Starbucks has found Suntory as a helper.

"We have seen a surge in sales of black coffee in Japan, and consumers are enjoying it in many places other than coffee shops." Said Stephanie Choi of Starbucks' global ready-to-eat beverage division. As a result, this product, which is based on the analysis of the Japanese market, is naturally limited to sales in the Japanese market.

And in order to ensure the taste. This ready-to-drink drink is packaged with premium aluminum bottles.

Looking for partners in the local market? This is not the first of Starbucks in Japan. In March, Starbucks China announced a partnership with Kang Shifu, which is responsible for product development and brand promotion, while the latter will be responsible for Starbucks' local production and distribution of bottled Frappuccino.

Integrating more local resources at a relatively low cost and extending sales beyond cafes seems to be the benefit Starbucks can gain from partnering with local companies. Of course, from the point of view of consumers, they will also be a little worried about whether the quality of the products will decline.

The picture is from 500px.