Korean consumers will be able to enjoy sipping instant coffee offered by Starbucks from next month, the Seattle-based company’s Korean branch said Sunday.

The Korean introduction of the Starbucks VIA Ready Brew is scheduled for Sept. 16 at 363 Starbucks coffee houses here, Starbucks Korea spokeswoman Celcilia Song told The Korea Herald.

The VIA line ― named after the Italian word for “road” ― is priced at 3,600 won ($3.33) for a packet of three 3.3 gram sachets and its purchase is only available in Starbucks stores.

With instant coffee outperforming fresh coffee globally in recent years, industry watchers predicted that the launch of Starbucks VIA, priced several times higher than standard instant coffee brands, could reform the domestic instant coffee market.

The company also refused to compare the VIA coffee to existing cheaper stick-type coffee mix products, in which powdered cream and sugar are also mixed.

“Starbucks VIA is made from 100% arabica instant and micro ground coffee that tastes as good as fresh-brewed coffee at Starbucks stores,” Song said.

The VIA coffee, which was launched in 2009, is currently sold in six countries outside the United States.

With the September launch in six additional Asian countries including Korea, the coffee will be available all Starbucks locations in Asia Pacific.

The company said that this expansion will further strengthen the coffee giant’s global coffee leadership and expertise, especially in the growing Asian market.

“Starbucks VIA Ready Brew represents a significant growth opportunity for the company and we believe the success of this revolutionary instant coffee reinforces our view that Starbucks VIA will become another billion dollar Starbucks brand overtime,” John Culver, president of Starbucks Coffee International, said in a recent press release.

As of March, its global sales have surpassed the $200 million mark since its launch in 2009. Over the past four weeks alone, the sales increased 41 percent compared to one year earlier.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)