Starbucks appeals to local palates with new Delhi store

Opening its first store in the capital, US-based Starbucks Coffee on Wednesday said it has aggressive expansion plans for the country and saw India emerging as one of its top five global markets in the long-term. Currently, the US, Canada, Japan, the UK and China are its top five markets.

Keeping in mind the taste and preferences of Indian customers, new food items have been introduced. Like other Western chains that have come to India, such as Pizza Hut, Starbucks is offering “Indianised” versions of its food and beverages to appeal to local palates, and has reportedly added dishes like Murg Makhni Pie and Mutton Seekh in Roomali Roti to its Delhi menu.

Tata Starbucks opened its 7th outlet in India with the inauguration of a new cafe at Connaught Place in New Delhi. A branch opened in the city’s main international airport last month.

The company will roll out more outlets in the city in the future and is studying other markets in India.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, John Culver, president Starbucks Coffee, said the company needs to earn its place in India not through reputation but through consistency and quality.

“We have been able to bring something that is unique to the market, that doesn’t currently exists in terms of the third place that we have created with these beautiful stores as well as the quality of the beverage and the hand crafted personalisation of those beverages for each of the customers, its been tremendous to see the excitement that customers have for Starbucks here in India,” he added.

The company, which has missed its target of opening 50 outlets in the country by 2012 at an investment of Rs 400 crore, however, remained non-committal on by when it would be able reach the milestone.

“We are committed to India for the long-term and we want to grow aggressively here. India will be our top five markets around the world over a long-term,” Culver said.

He, however, declined to share any time-frame.

Starbucks is present in India as an equal joint venture with Tata Global Beverages.

When asked specifically if Starbucks is still committed to opening of 50 cafes and investing Rs 400 crore in India, Culver said: “From the Starbucks perspective, we are a publicly traded company. We do not release those figures publicly…We did not do those numbers specifically from a Starbucks perspective.”

During a joint press conference in January last year, Culver along with Tata Global Beverages. Vice Chairman R K Krishnakumar had announced plans to open 50 cafes in the country in 2012, entailing an investment of Rs 400 crore.

“The initial investment will be Rs 400 crore between the two partners, and as business expands we will keep moving it up…we are looking at opening 50 stores this year (2012),” Krishnakumar had said.

Culver parried a direct reply to a query on reasons for delay in rolling out of Starbucks outlets in India, saying, “We are committed to grow our business here. I don’t want to put a number on there. I am not going to comment on any numbers.”

Starbucks had opened its first outlet in India in October 2012 in Mumbai, where it currently has four cafes. Last month, Tata Starbucks opened two more outlets at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here.

With inputs from Agencies