Tata Starbucks Private Limited, formerly known as Tata Starbucks Limited, is a 50:50 joint venture company, owned by
Tata Consumer Products and
Starbucks Corporation
Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain.
As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 cou ...
, that owns and operates
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain.
As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 cou ...
outlets in India. The outlets are branded ''Starbucks "A Tata Alliance"''.
History
In January 2011, Starbucks Corporation and
Tata Coffee
Tata Coffee is an Indian company that produces coffee, tea, pepper and related products. It is a subsidiary of Tata Consumer Products, and is part of the Tata Group. Tata Coffee owns 19 coffee estates in South India, spread across the district ...
announced plans to begin opening
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain.
As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 cou ...
locations in India. Despite a false start in 2007, in January 2012 Starbucks finally announced a 50:50 joint venture with
Tata Global Beverages
Tata Consumer Products is an Indian fast-moving consumer goods company and a part of the Tata Group. Its registered office is located in Kolkata while its corporate headquarters is in Mumbai. It is the world's second-largest manufacturer and di ...
, called Tata Starbucks Ltd., which would own and operate outlets branded "Starbucks, A Tata Alliance". Starbucks had previously attempted to enter the Indian market in 2007. Starbucks did not cite any reason for the withdrawal.
On 19 October 2012, Starbucks opened its first store in India, measuring 4,500 sq ft in Elphinstone Building,
Horniman Circle
The Horniman Circle Gardens is a large park in South Mumbai, India, which encompasses an area of 2½ acres (10,100 m²). It is situated in the Fort district of Mumbai, and is surrounded by office complexes housing the country's premier banks. D ...
,
Mumbai. Starbucks opened its first roasting and packaging plant to supply its Indian outlets in Kodagu, Karnataka in 2013.
Starbucks expanded its presence to
Delhi on 24 January 2013 by opening 2 outlets at Terminal III of the
Indira Gandhi International Airport, and later one in
Connaught Place. Tata Global Beverages announced in 2013 that they would have 50 locations by the end of the year, with an investment of . However, the company would open its 50th store in India only on 8 July 2014 in chennai.
The third city of India to get a Starbucks outlet was
Pune, where the company opened an outlet at
Koregaon Park
Koregaon Park (earlier Koregaon Road Estate) is an area located in Pune, in the state of Maharashtra in India. It is primarily a posh residential area with lush greenery, but of late has been growing into a commercial hub as well. Koregaon Park ...
, on 8 September 2013. Starbucks opened a 3,000-square-foot flagship store at
Koramangala
Koramangala () is situated in the south-eastern part of Bengaluru, it is one of the largest neighborhoods, and is a residential locality with wide, tree-lined boulevards and a mix of commercial structures, and bungalows. Planned as a suburb pos ...
,
Bangalore
Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
on 22 November 2013, making it the fourth city to have an outlet.
Starbucks opened the largest coffee-forward store in the country at Vittal Mallya Road, Bangalore on 18 March 2019. The store measures 3,000 sq ft, and is Starbucks' 140th outlet in India. Tata Starbucks opened 25 stores in 2017–18 and 30 in the 2018–19 fiscal year.
On 21 February 2019, CEO Navin Gurnaney announced that Tata Starbucks would transition to using only compostable and recyclable packaging materials across all its stores from June 2020.
Starbucks announced its entry into the
Gujarat market on 7 August 2019. The company simultaneously opened five stores in
Surat and
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (p ...
the next day. Starbucks' flagship store in the state is located at
Prahlad Nagar
Prahlada () is an asura king in Hindu mythology. He is known for his staunch devotion towards the preserver deity, Vishnu. He appears in the narrative of Narasimha, the man-lion avatar of Vishnu, who rescues Prahlada by slaying his wicked fa ...
, Ahmedabad and offers more vegetarian options than other Indian outlets.
CEO Navin Gurnaney stated that the company would open more than 30 stores in the 2019–20 fiscal year, of which 11 had already opened.
The company opened its 170th outlet and the first in Vadodara in December 2019. The first
drive-through
A drive-through or drive-thru (a sensational spelling of the word ''through''), is a type of take-out service provided by a business that allows customers to purchase products without leaving their cars. The format was pioneered in the United ...
Starbucks outlet in India was opened at
Zirakpur
Zirakpur is a satellite town, in Mohali District, Punjab, neighboring Mohali, Chandigarh in India. It is set on the foothills of Shivalik hills. It is part of the tehsil Dera Bassi. It is the gateway to Chandigarh from Delhi. It comprises mai ...
, Punjab on 13 July 2020. The company opened its 200th store at
Amritsar
Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha ...
, Punjab on 22 October 2020. Starbucks entered into
Madhya Pradesh in February 2021 by opening 3 stores in
Indore and
Bhopal
Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It is ...
with further expansion plans in Indore. Starbucks entered Rajasthan by opening 2 stores in
Jaipur
Jaipur (; Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had a population of 3.1 million, making it the tenth most populous city in the country. Jaipur is also known as ...
in August 2021.
On 10 February 2021, the company announced that Navin Gurnaney was stepping down as CEO. Sushant Dash, who is currently President, Packaged beverages at Tata Consumer Products, replaced him as CEO effective 1 May 2021. Tata Starbucks opened 40 new stores in 2020–21, including expanding to 7 new cities, and the company opened 50 new stores in 2021–22, including expanding to 8 new cities.
Products
Apart from the usual products offered internationally, Starbucks in India has some Indian-style product offerings such as Tandoori Paneer Roll, Chocolate Rossomalai Mousse, Malai Chom Chom Tiramisu, Elaichi Mewa Croissant, Chicken Kathi Roll and Murg Tikka Panini to suit Indian customers.
All espressos sold in Indian outlets are made from Indian roasted coffee beans supplied by
Tata Coffee
Tata Coffee is an Indian company that produces coffee, tea, pepper and related products. It is a subsidiary of Tata Consumer Products, and is part of the Tata Group. Tata Coffee owns 19 coffee estates in South India, spread across the district ...
. Starbucks also sells Himalayan bottled mineral water. Free Wi-Fi is available at all Starbucks stores.
In January 2017, Tata Starbucks introduced Starbucks' tea brand
Teavana offering 18 different varieties of tea across its outlets in India. One of the varieties, called the India Spice Majesty Blend, was specifically developed for the Indian market and is only available in India. India Spice Majesty Blend is a blend of full leaf
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur t ...
black tea
Black tea, also translated to red tea in various East Asian languages, is a type of tea that is more oxidized than oolong, yellow, white and green teas. Black tea is generally stronger in flavour than other teas. All five types are made from ...
infused with whole cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, pepper, star anise and ginger.
On 15 June 2015, Tata Starbucks announced that it was suspending the use of ingredients that had not been approved by the
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is a statutory body established under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India. The FSSAI has been established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, which is a co ...
(FSSAI). The company did not specify what the ingredients were or which products they were used. The company also stated that it was in the process of applying for FSSAI approval for these ingredients.
Tata Starbucks launched the Starbucks Delivers program in early 2019. The service offers home delivery from Starbucks outlets through a partnership with
Swiggy
Swiggy is an Indian online food ordering and delivery platform. Founded in July 2014, Swiggy is based in Bangalore and operates in 500 Indian cities as of September 2021. Besides food delivery, Swiggy also provides on-demand grocery deliverie ...
. The service was first launched in Mumbai, with plans to roll it out to other cities.
Locations
As of January 2022, Starbucks operates 252 outlets in 28 cities of India.
Legal issues
The US-based Starbucks Corporation filed a lawsuit in the Delhi High Court in July 2018 against Delhi-based coffee chain SardarBuksh for allegedly copying their name and logo. The owner of SardarBuksh agreed to change its name on 28 September 2018. Sanmeet Singh Kalra, co-founder of SardarBuksh, said, "Our name rhymed with Starbucks which is why the court has ruled in their favour." Kalra also stated that his company would not change its logo. Its logo features a circle of green and black with a figure at the centre, similar to the Starbucks logo, except with a man in a turban instead of a mermaid.
In March 2019, an investigation by the Directorate General of Anti Profiteering (DGAP) found Tata Starbucks guilty of
profiteering by not reducing the
goods and services tax (GST) charged on coffee. The GST Council had reduced the tax rate on restaurants from 18% to 5% from 17 November 2017. However, the DGAP found that Tata Starbucks had raised the base price of one coffee variant such that its retail price remained the same even after the tax rate was reduced. The case was pending before the National Anti-Profiteering Authority (NAA), which will issue the final verdict. In November 2020, the NAA upheld the findings of the DGAP's investigation, fined Tata Starbucks an amount of plus 18% interest, and ordered the company to "reduce the prices of products so that the benefits of tax reduction is passed on to the recipients".
International presence
The
Tata Group
The Tata Group () is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. Established in 1868, it is India's largest conglomerate, with products and services in over 150 countries, and operations in 100 countries across six continent ...
and Starbucks Corporation also collaborate on some ventures outside India. Starbucks Reserve Tata Nullore Estates, the first-ever
Starbucks Reserve
Starbucks Reserve is a program by the international coffeehouse chain Starbucks. The program involves operation of worldwide roasteries; currently six are in operation. Also part of the program are 28 coffee bars preparing Starbucks Reserve produ ...
coffee sourced exclusively from India, became the first Indian coffee to be roasted and sold at Starbucks home city of
Seattle in 2016. The coffee was later rolled out across Starbucks outlets in the United States. In the same year, Starbucks began selling Himalayan bottled mineral water at its outlets in Singapore and also began retailing its products on board all flights of
Vistara
Tata SIA Airlines Limited, operating as Vistara, is an Indian full-service airline, based in Gurugram, with its hub at Indira Gandhi International Airport. The carrier, a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, commenced opera ...
, a joint venture between the Tata Group and
Singapore Airlines.
See also
*
Café Coffee Day
References
5
Starbucks opens outlet in raipur, chhattisgarh
External links
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{{Tata Group
Coffee brands
Multinational food companies
Indian companies established in 2012
Restaurants established in 2012
Tata Group subsidiaries
Multinational joint-venture companies
Coffeehouses and cafés in India
Food and drink companies based in Mumbai
Privately held companies of India