Starbucks plans to open juice bars in 2012. (Creative Commons/Flickr)

To expand beyond just the coffee business, Starbucks also announced that it had purchased juice company Evolution Fresh for $30 million in cash.

“We think we can build a major business,” Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz told reporters on a conference call, Reuters reports.

Schultz said the addition of juice bars is the first of many steps Starbucks has planned to get a move into the health and wellness market.

After Thursday's announcement, market shares in Jamba dropped 0.6 percent, while shares in Starbucks were up 1.1 percent on Thursday afternoon on the NASDAQ. 

Starbucks' plan may hurt Jamba Inc., especially since the juice company has struggled in past years due to other companies introducing competing products.  Schultz said that Jamba suffered after it shifted to more of a commodity business.

While Evolution Fresh is currently sold in Whole Foods and PCC Natural Markets on the west coast, Starbucks plans to expand the juice company's distribution to other retailers, including its own coffee shops.

The first of Starbucks’ new juice bars will open in early to mid-2012, starting on the west coast. The juice bar’s name has not been revealed, and it is not clear whether or not Starbucks’ famous mermaid logo, which recently dropped the word “coffee” from it’s design, will be featured in the new stores.

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