Starbucks to Open Juice Bars

Starbucks Corp plans to start a chain of juice bars next year, venturing into territory staked out by Jamba Inc, in its biggest-ever expansion beyond coffee.

The world's largest coffee chain, which has made no secret of its ambitions to expand beyond its staple business, said it has bought juice company Evolution Fresh for US$30 million in cash.

Chief executive officer Howard Schultz hopes buying Evolution Fresh, whose products are sold by a handful of retailers including Whole Foods Market Inc, will give the company a meaningful foothold in the estimated $50 billion health food market.

The first juice bars will open on the US West Coast in early to mid-2012, but the company would not say how many were planned.

The chain's name has not been revealed and it was not immediately clear whether Starbucks' familiar Mermaid logo - which recently dropped the word 'coffee' from its design - would be displayed by the new chain.