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Tata Starbucks, an equal joint venture between US-based Starbucks Coffee Company of US and Tata Global Beverages Ltd, is betting big on its two-pronged strategy to make its presence felt in India as also grow its topline and bottomline.
The company will continue to focus on expanding its stores across India and innovating its beverages, coffee and food to suit Indian inclinations.
“We are exploring different ways of brewing, roasting and presenting coffee and food that will be served in our stores,” Sumitro Ghosh, Chief Executive Officer, Tata Starbucks, told BusinessLine here.
The company added 25 new stores last year and expects to add more stores during 2018. It has so far opened 118 stores across seven cities. Ghosh said the company is examining opportunities in tier-II locations.
He said Starbucks had done relevant things in its food and beverages by doing customisation to suit Indian tastes.
“We are continuing to test and explore what is relevant to our customers in India. Also, our target audience is not necessarily only young people. The experience we offer in Starbucks is relevant to all people,” he added.
Upbeat on India
Food contributes a good share to its overall sales in India. With more than 20 per cent share in sales, it is higher than the average of Asian market for Starbucks. “We hope to grow the food share as this is the market which loves food along with high quality beverages,” he said.
Ghosh stated that India was the fastest growing market outside of the US for Starbucks during its first five years in the country. The company hopes to maintain a strong growth in the coming years also, driven by opening of new stores and improved in-store performance.
“We are proud of where we are in India and we see the landscape of success that we can keep building on it and again we can see India as one of top five markets in the world in the future,” he said.
Ghosh felt that the growing infrastructure development including building of malls would create more opportunities for the company.
The company has achieved a topline growth of 28 per cent last year, supported by better in store performance and growth through new stores. It also achieved first year of positive EBIDTA, according to information provided by Tata Global Beverages.
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