27 July 2007 - Kraft Foods said, in article published on FLEXNEWS earlier this week, that, in response to a quality initiative, it plans to eliminate robusta usage in its Maxwell House regular blend by the end of 2007.
A few days later competitor Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA, a subsidiary of Segafredo Zanetti Group, which produces Chock Full o' Nuts coffee, said that it has no plans to change its arabica-robusta blends.
Meanwhile, Kraft Foods’ main rival in the US coffee industry Procter & Gamble Co. also said it was sticking with robustas in its Folgers arabica blend.
"Folgers regular is the top-selling U.S. ground coffee brand, and mainstream consumers like its body and full-flavored taste … Folgers uses robusta beans from Asia and Brazil in its arabica blends and in its instant coffee. The company buys arabicas from many origins to satisfy a wide range of taste profiles", a P&G spokesman told ‘Dow Jones Newswires’.
Robusta beans are a hardier, mostly Asian-grown variety that generally taste bitter compared with arabicas - which are grown in Brazil, Colombia and Central America.
Coffee industry traders told ‘Dow Jones News wires’ that, in their opinion, Kraft will spend more for coffee by eliminating robusta beans which are cheaper than arabicas.
Kraft, however, said it has no plans to raise the price of regular Maxwell House once it becomes 100% arabica.