Starbucks, Corp. announced a joint venture that the coffee giant says will enable it to open 50 locations in one year.
Starbucks combined with Tata Global Beverages, Ltd. an Indian corporate conglomerate and the new company expects to place Starbucks coffee houses in the cities of Mumbai and Delhi and then expand.
Expansion is expected to be facilitated by Tata's hospitality and retail businesses that will see the joint venture put Starbucks locations in airports and shopping complexes with hotels, office buildings, shopping malls and rail stations on the horizon.
The coffee giant is already established in more than 50 countries around the world and breaking into the Indian market was long sought after. Reuters reported that the company had been unable to acquire the necessary real estate to go into business in its typical fashion.
The combination with Tata, allowed it to tap what it hopes is still a growing middle class economy although it had to share revenue and profits of the new company, dubbed Tata Starbucks, Ltd.
Although the nation of India is well known for its tea and the the vast majority of the population are tea drinkers, research data show that coffee consumption has accelerated quickly enough to interest Starbucks in testing the market.
In the announcement of the joint venture the Starbucks chief for Asia and China told media: "We are in the process of looking at real estate opportunities at the moment. We are moving as quickly as possible and the expansion of stores will be based on the customer feedback we get,"
One year ago Starbucks and Tata entered into an agreement to harvest and roast India's coffee beans from the southern part of the country. At that time it was the hope of the company to open the first cafes in the country as well. It took some time but it has become a reality.
With Starbucks' ever present need to increase the company's revenues in the United States market, where retail locations were closed after the financial collapse, it decided to diversity its product line once again.
In November 2011 it finalized a $30 million purchase of Evolution Fresh which will bring fresh organic juices and juice bar locations to the Starbucks family. The juice will be introduced into existing Starbucks coffee locations and also distributed in groceries stores. Read: Starbucks gets juiced after acquisition
Image: Wikimedia Commons/Elvert Barnes
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