McDonald's bagged coffee? Yes, on sale soon in US stores

McDonald's bagged coffee: McDonald's started selling McCafe bagged coffee in stores in Canada last year at $7 for 12 ounces.

Fans of McDonald's coffee will soon be able to brew a cup of it at home.

The world's biggest hamburger chain says it will test selling a variety of packaged ground and whole-bean coffee at supermarkets and other retail outlets starting next year. The test will also include single-cup servings.

McDonald's, based in Oak Brook, Ill., did not disclose any other details. But the company already started selling McCafe packaged coffee in Canada late last year. Those bags weighed about 12 ounces and cost about $7.

McDonald's is teaming up with Kraft Foods Group Inc. to distribute the coffee. The company did not say how widespread the test would be.

McDonald's is following in the footsteps of coffee retailers Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks, which also sell bagged coffee in supermarkets. The packaged coffee industry is worth about $5.6 billion, and 56 percent of Americans reported that they bought coffee in the supermarket in 2011, according to The Daily Meal.

In other McDonald's news, how about a GED certificate with that Big Mac?

People dining at McDonald's restaurants in 53 Kentucky counties will be encouraged to take the GED test on customer tray liners that will also remind guests that the GED test is changing next year. Anyone who has successfully completed parts of the test must finish by Dec. 18 or scores will expire.

The Council on Postsecondary Education says this is the eighth year for the McDonald's GED campaign. It was started in three restaurants by Joe Graviss, a central Kentucky McDonald's owner/operator and member of the council.

For more information on the GED test, visit http://kyae.ky.gov/students/ged.htm .

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