PORTLAND, Ore. — Starbucks Corp. hopes to do for juice what it’s done for coffee.

The Seattle-based company that changed the way Americans drink their cup of Joe said Thursday that it acquired juice maker Evolution Fresh Inc. for $30 million as part of a larger effort to move beyond just offering coffee.

Starbucks said it plans to “reinvent” the $1.6 billion super-premium juice segment with its purchase of Evolution, which is based in San Bernadino, Calif. The company plans to open a new chain of health and wellness stores in the coming year that will carry Evolution products such as juices and simple foods. Details are still thin on the new chain, but Starbucks described it as a retail model that has never been seen before.

“We are not just acquiring a juice company,” Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said. “We are using this acquisition to position ourselves, in a broad way, to build a multibillion health and wellness business over time.”

The move is the latest by Starbucks to broaden its business as consumers demand healthier products and it faces growing competition from the likes of McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts.

The company has rolled out lower-calorie and lower-fat food options, sugar-free syrups and switched from whole milk to 2 percent milk as the default in its drinks. The company also is selling more products, like Seattle’s Best coffee and Via instant coffee, in grocery stores and other retailers.

Starbucks, which estimates that at some point in the future its consumer products business will rival the size of its caf?usiness, said more than a year ago that it would be looking for potential acquisition candidates. Its last acquisition in 2008 was of The Coffee Equipment Co., which makes the high-end Clover coffee brewing system.

Evolution, started by the founder of Naked juice, is a logical choice for the chain as it seeks to offer healthier options. Evolution, which makes fresh fruit and vegetable juices, has products that are sold at Whole Foods, Safeway, Costco and other select retailers on the West Coast.

Evolution is one of the few larger juice companies that still cracks, peels, presses and squeezes its own fruits and vegetables rather than using pureed or powdered ingredients. It also uses a process called high-pressure pasteurization to make the juice without heating it. Starbucks sees these methods as a competitive edge over juice makers such as Odwalla or Naked juice, which it currently carries in its stores, as it allows the juice maker to keep a higher nutritional quality in the juice while maintaining the taste.

Starbucks did not disclose how many of stores the new chain carrying Evolution products will have or where the locations would be. But the company said the chain will launch on the West Coast and be roughly the size of a traditional Starbucks caf?Starbucks also plans to upgrade some of its existing stores to make room for the Evolution products and distribute Evolution’s products to other retailers.

Schultz said the company will launch a “full court press” to build the Evolution brand in the coming year, including more details on its new stores.