The US-headquartered Starbucks Coffee Company is finally entering India by signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Tata Coffee Ltd, a subsidiary of Tata Global Beverages (formerly Tata Tea).
To begin with, the MoU will create avenues of collaboration between the two companies for sourcing and roasting high-quality green coffee beans in Tata Coffee's Coorg facility.
In addition, Tata and Starbucks will jointly explore the development of Starbucks in retail outlets and hotels for its iconic coffee brand.
At a later stage, both Tata Coffee and Starbucks will consider jointly investing in additional facilities and roasting green coffee for export to other markets.
The Seattle-based Starbucks , is a premier roaster and retailer of specialty coffee in the world and manages over 16,000 stores and operates in more than 50 countries. Till recently, according to industry sources, the Bharti Group was in the running to bring Starbucks to India.
In a press release, Mr R. K. Krishnakumar, Chairman of Tata Coffee, said, “We welcome Starbucks' entry into India because of both its unique experience with the store format and for its commitment to society, values that we share.”
Mr Howard Schultz, Chairman, President and CEO, Starbucks Coffee Co added, “This MoU is the first step in our entry to India. We are focused on exploring local sourcing and roasting opportunities with the thousands of coffee farmers within the Tata ecosystem. We believe India can be an important source for coffee in the domestic market, as well as across the many regions globally where Starbucks has operations.”
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