Starbucks adds salads and pasta to its lunch menu

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NEW YORK, June 26 (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp. (SBUX.O) will expand its lunch offerings at the more than 4,400 coffee shops in the United States, or less than half the total, that serve lunch, the company said on Tuesday. The No. 1 coffee shop chain, which is facing steeper competition as chains such as McDonald's Corp. (MCD.N) improve their coffee offerings, said it will add a tomato mozzarella salad and a "fiesta salad" with grilled chicken, roasted corn and black beans, to its lunch menus nationwide.

The company is also adding two new yogurt parfaits, a raspberry mocha frappuccino and an iced raspberry mocha nationwide.

Regional additions include white chicken curry with couscous, albacore tuna penne, "champagne pasta salad," bowtie pasta with goat cheese, and Asian sesame noodle salad, the company said.

The move is a slight departure for Starbucks, which mostly serves baked goods, sandwiches and some salads.

But last year the company said it would expand warm breakfast sandwiches as a core offering in about 6,500 U.S. stores by the end of fiscal 2008.

As of Dec. 31, Starbucks had 9,401 stores in the United States. Its plan is to open about 1,700 U.S. stores per year for the next few years.

Starbucks shares were up 10 cents at $25.76 on the Nasdaq in morning trade.

(Reporting by Martinne Geller)

((Editing by John Wallace; Reuters messaging: martinne.geller.reuters.com@reuters.net; martinne.geller@reuters.com; +1 646 223 6023)) Keywords: STARBUCKS LUNCH/

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