McDonalds Rolling Out Bagged Coffee

McDonald's and   Kraft Foods   Group will roll out McCafé bagged coffee at grocery, mass merchandise, club and drug stores nationwide after testing the product last year.

The rollout, starting in early 2015, will include ground, whole bean and single-serve McCafé coffees. McDonald's in 2012 began selling packaged coffee in some of its Canadian restaurants.

"We understand there is huge demand for at home options and we've built great success with our McCafé coffee in restaurants. So, it was a natural next step to provide customers with McCafé coffee to enjoy in their own home," said Greg Watson, senior vice president, McDonald's U.S. Menu Innovation, in a statement.

The brand is expected to be positioned as a premium product, in keeping with McDonald's long-held positioning of McCafé in its restaurants and the test in select markets last year. McDonald's and Kraft did not respond to questions about which agency will handle marketing. A spokesman for Kraft said "integrated marketing support -- including TV, digital, social, PR and sampling" is expected. A McDonald's spokesman also said there would be an integrated campaign but that it's too soon to discuss details.

Varieties of the McCafé packaged coffee will include Premium Roast, Breakfast Blend, French Roast, Colombian, Premium Roast Decaf, French Vanilla, Hazelnut and French Roast Whole Bean. Single-serve will include Premium Roast, French Roast and Premium Roast Decaf.

The move comes at a time when McDonald's is struggling to reverse a sales slump. Last year, the chain said among its main areas of concentration for 2014 would be coffee and improving operations and the customer experience.

"In a competitive category that is growing rapidly and changing every day, this new partnership with McDonald's represents a whole new era in the world of at-home premium coffee," said Nina Barton, vice president of coffee for Kraft Foods, in a statement. "By tapping into the loyal McCafé fan base already built by McDonald's and leveraging our deep coffee category expertise here at Kraft, we have the ability to reach a larger audience than ever before, really giving this brand room to thrive."