SEATTLE - Just 10 months after hitting store shelves, Starbucks' VIA Ready Brew has recorded $100 million in global sales, the company announced in a press release earlier this week.

The sales achievement qualifies the product as a "mega hit," according to SymphonyIRI Group, which said products that generate in excess of $50 million in first-year sales earn that distinction.

Compared to the $330 million premium single serve/pod category, VIA has attained 30 percent penetration within the category.

Among VIA purchasers, fifty-five percent consume the drink at home, versus 25 percent while at work and the remaining 20 percent while "on the go."

"We are extremely pleased with customer enthusiasm and adoption of Starbucks VIA Ready Brew," said Howard Schultz, Starbucks chairman, president and CEO. "Hitting $100 million in global sales in less than a year is a terrific accomplishment. I want to thank our customers for helping us reach this milestone. In comparison, it took our Frappuccino blended beverage business about three years to reach this level of sales."

Starbucks VIA is available in roughly 37,000 distribution points in the U.S., including 25,000 food, drug and mass merchandiser stores, with the remaining 12,000 coming from Starbucks locations. Those numbers are expected to increase, with the number of non-Starbucks stores carrying the brew expected to grow by 3,000 by the end of 2011.

"We are continuing to drive steady increases in VIA? distribution ?? channel-by-channel, country-by-country," Schultz said. "In the next few weeks, we will announce new product innovation as well as an additional international market entry for Starbucks VIA."