Starbucks Corp. will soon start selling instant coffee throughout North America. The company, which nearly eight months back started selling its Via instant coffee in Seattle and Chicago, will now provide it to the rest of the country and in its Canadian stores.

The Via launch show, which is supported by national television ads and large-scale distribution to about 1,500 sites outside its stores, reflects how strong minded the coffee company is to own a stake in the $21 billion worldwide instant coffee market.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz expressed, "Based on the success we've had, we feel strongly that we're sitting on a very big opportunity. What's going to sell Via at the end of the day is that (it) delivers in the cup. Most people will not be able to tell the difference."

The Americans are not really fond of the insta-brews since they consider it inferior to drip-brewed beverages. However, the instant coffee is present throughout Europe - accounting for as much as 80 percent of coffee sales in the U. K.

The aim of the Starbucks executives is to break the notion related to instant coffee. They expect the skinny cylindrical 3-packs ($2.95) and 12-packs ($9.95) of coffee that dissolve in water to eventually be available on store shelves as its packaged coffee is now.

Experts do envision challenges for Starbucks, along with opportunity.

"Starbucks faces twin hurdles of perception and price - just shy of a dollar a cup, compared with the pennies it costs for a cup of home-brewed joe," said Bob Goldin, an analyst at the Chicago- based food consultant Technomic Inc.

As of now, the coffee could be availed in Colombia and Italian Roast flavors, with more flavors coming in the near future. The company would also be helped by leading vendors, like camping store chain REI and office supply chain Office Depot Inc., to deliver the product to the customers.

"Via also be sold inside Costco Wholesale Corp. and Target Corp. stores and to big food vendors like Compass and Aramark. The offensive is also taking to the air, where passengers onboard certain United Airlines flights Tuesday will be able to sample the drinks. In late October, United travelers will be able to buy three packs of the coffee from flight attendants," said a source.

Via will hit the grocery store shelves next year. Grocery store shelves account for roughly two-thirds of Starbucks' packaged coffee sales.