McDonald’s bagged coffee coming to US supermarkets

(UPI) -- McDonald's began selling bags of its McCafé coffee in Canada late last year, and now the company has announced that U.S. customers will have the chance to buy varieties of packaged ground and whole-bean coffee in supermarkets starting in 2014.

Other popular purveyors of coffee including Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks, have already made the move to sell their products in non-franchise stores.

McDonald's will partner with Kraft to distribute the bagged coffee, though neither company provided details about which markets would see the rollout first. Kraft previously distributed Starbucks coffee, though that partnership has ended.

Bagged coffee is a huge industry in the U.S. -- some estimates place it at $5.6 billion -- and coffee represents six percent of McDonald’s U.S. sales. The company sells more than 400 million cups of its premium Gaviña coffee per year.

McDonald’s may also offer single-serving packets of coffee in some markets after they proved popular in Canada.