THEY SAY, in business, that brand recognition is everything – and clearly the world’s biggest coffee chain reckons its brand is strong enough to withstand it dropping its name from its own logo.

To mark its 40th anniversary – and ahead of an ambitious new strategy to move its products beyond the reach of its own shops and into supermarkets – Starbucks has unveiled its latest rebranding, which will see the words ‘Starbucks Coffee’ dropped entirely from its trademark ‘mermaid’ logo.

The new face – referred to in-house as its ‘siren’ – will be rolled out in the company’s shops worldwide in March, to mark the 40th anniversary of the opening of the chain’s first shop in Seattle, in 1971.

“The new interpretation of the logo, at its core, is the exact same essence of the Starbucks experience,” CEO Howard Schultz said in a video unveiling the new identity.

“Even though we have been and always will be a coffee company and retailer,” he said in a later webcast, “it’s possible we’ll have other products with our name on it and no coffee in it.”

The Guardian reports that the rebranding will also see the chain remove its traditional heavy ceramic mugs from stores, replacing them with lighter cups made from fine bone china.

The chain’s overall overhaul of its image comes as it moves to expand its trade; the firm is thought to be making moves to have its coffee sold in supermarkets as it tries to dominate the as-yet-untapped home coffee market.