• March 27, 2013

In the latest push in its aggressive marketing campaign, Kraft Foods Group's Gevalia has taken on Starbucks in the bagged coffee category.

Gevalia is touting the results of a national taste test, conducted by an "independent third party," showing that 59.7% of coffee drinkers preferred the taste of Gevalia House Blend over the taste of Starbucks House Blend. About a third (34%) preferred Starbucks, while 6.3% showed no taste preference, according to Gevalia/Kraft.

In addition, a national telephone survey of 510 adult coffee drinkers (those drinking four or more cups per week) conducted for Gevalia by Braun Research in mid-March revealed insights about their habits, including:

*About two-thirds (64%) of coffee drinkers say that they'd recommend their favorite coffee brand to family and friends, versus 29% who would recommend their favorite coffee to their hair stylist.

*40% of coffee drinkers report having driven to another store in search of their favorite coffee brand.

*39% say they would rather stay late at the office than be forced to give up their cups of coffee.

The taste test was conducted in 30 national markets among approximately 300 randomly selected male and female adult coffee drinkers, 18 years of age or older. Qualified participants drank at least 1 cup of caffeinated coffee that had been prepared at home in the past seven days. Products were presented to participants unbranded and the order of trial was rotated to minimize position bias.  

The telephone survey has a margin of error of +/- 4.4%.