Starbucks (SBUX) will find itself with another competitor in premium coffee and tea drinks soon. The Coca-Cola Co. (KO) has announced it will create a line of latte-style drinks. This line will be targeted for restaurants and other food services outlets -- not retail. Seems every few weeks this summer has brought a similar announcement from some well-known corporation or another. The trend's toward more competition.

Companies are willing to try out this market that critics perennially claim is saturated -- or over-saturated, whatever that means. If consumers do decide that $3.50 is too much for a coffee, then McDonald's and/or Coca-Cola may provide options that are likely to be priced more cheaply, though without the cache of Starbucks, or Tully's, or SBC names.

Coke already this year brought out Coca-Cola BlaK, which is a carbonated coffee-infused soft drink, but that's likened by the company to an energy drink -- not a direct competitor to lattes, canned iced coffees, frappucinos, or the like. It tastes wretched to me, by the way. Sort of like drinking out of bottle at party that people have been dousing their cigarettes in all night. Not that I've done that. Well, not more than twice anyway.