Starbucks enters India with first store in Mumbai
19 Oct 2012
Starbucks opened its first India store today, in a bid to gain a toehold in a burgeoning consumer market.
With the Mumbai store, the coffee house operator makes an entry into its 61st country. It has been operating for 13 years in China, another on-the-rise economic power where tea is the established beverage.
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said this was a very complex market to to business and the company needed to find the right partner.
According to Schultz, Tata Global Beverages, a unit of one of India's best-known conglomerate was the right choice, describing meeting Tata executives as "love at first sight," saying they shared his commitment to social responsibility and strong community relations.
India is mainly a tea drinking country with most Indians getting a start to the day with a steaming cup of milky, sweet chai tea. However, the appetite for coffee is growing -- a report from consultancy Technopak estimated the market could double in the next five years to over $500 million.
According to the International Coffee Organisation, a trade group, the average Indian consumer bought less than three ounces of coffee per year while the average American used around nine pounds.