INTERVIEW-Maxwell House coffee to go 100 pct arabica

By Marcy Nicholson

NEW YORK, July 23 (Reuters) - Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) is changing the blend of its flagship coffee brand, Maxwell House, to give "mainstream America" a richer, less bitter cup of coffee, a spokesman said on Monday. Maxwell House, Kraft's biggest coffee brand in the United States, will be made of 100 percent arabica beans starting this autumn, with the exception of its instant coffee and Master Blend, Kraft's senior vice-president and general manager of coffee in North America, John LeBoutillier, told Reuters in a telephone interview.

"She may not know arabica by name, but this is a flavor that has a pronounced impact," LeBoutillier said about the average consumer.

The coffee is currently a blend of arabica beans, typically used in brewed coffee, and robusta, used to make instant coffee and as a less expensive blending option for brewed java.

Maxwell House canisters of 100 percent arabica blends will be on store shelves across Canada and the United States by the end of the year, he said.

The move is neither an effort to challenge premium coffees nor in response to the hike in robusta futures prices to a recent nine-year peak, LeBoutillier said.

"We're trying to deliver the very best, what we're calling mainstream, cup of coffee that we can," he said. "This coffee is formulated to deliver a rich coffee flavor with less or no bitterness within the taste profile that our mainstream coffee consumers enjoy."

Although arabica beans are generally more expensive than robusta, LeBoutillier said the price will not change. The average one-pound canister of original Maxwell House in the United States $2.89, the company said.