Sara Lee Plans Single-Serve Coffee Maker

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (Reuters) - Sara Lee Corp on Wednesday said it would launch its Senseo single-serve coffee maker in the United States next month, ahead of similar products from Kraft Foods Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co.

The Chicago-based company, a maker of apparel, food and household products ranging from Jimmy Dean sausages to Hanes briefs, told an industry conference it expects the unit to generate worldwide sales of $500 million by 2007.

The U.S. companies expect the single-serve coffee makers to help win back customers from chains like Starbucks Corp.

Senseo is a coffee maker manufactured by Dutch company Philips Electronics NV that uses single-serve "pods" of Sara Lee's Douwe Egberts brands of coffee.

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