By Eric M. Johnson and Lisa Baertlein
SEATTLE/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp (O:SBUX) said on Wednesday it will sell espresso pods for Nestle SA's (S:NESN) popular Nespresso home brewers in Europe and unveil a new way for customers to earn loyalty points for free food and drinks outside its cafes.
Nespresso is the most popular single-cup brewer in Europe, and Starbucks' espresso deal marks the company's debut on that machine.
Starbucks also said Keurig Green Mountain (NASDAQ:GMCR), which was purchased by an investor group led by Germany's Joh. A. Benckiser Holding Co (JAB) in March, will continue to supply Starbucks K-cups for Keurig brewers. The company this summer will begin selling latte products for Keurig machines in the United States, where that brewer dominates.
Starbucks, which is hosting its annual meeting in Seattle, also said it would begin selling bottled cold-brew coffee in the United States this summer and Teavana tea brand products in Asia and Europe by this autumn.
The company, which recently changed its loyalty program so that users earn redeemable points based on dollars spent rather than single transactions, said it would roll out a prepaid rewards card from Visa before the end of 2016. That card will allow customers to earn loyalty points on purchases outside its stores.
Shares in Starbucks closed down 0.6 percent at $58.83 on the Nasdaq.
(This version of the story has been refiled to adjust the headline to reflect that the announcement has been made.)