A hot business

INDIA: Starbucks in India? Well, yes and no. As a first step, Starbucks plans to use more coffee beans from India in its blends. India is the world’s fifth-largest exporter of coffee.

The US coffee company Starbucks has chosen Tata as its partner. Tata is a large business group based in India that owns companies in industries including cars, hotels and coffee. Initially, Starbucks and Tata will work together sourcing and roasting Indian coffee beans. The next phase will be to open stores at selected locations in India, perhaps beginning with Tata hotels.

Although India is famous for spicy chai-tea variations, middle-class Indians are increasingly turning to coffee. Consumption has risen by nearly 90 per cent since 1998.

Luckily for Starbucks, many younger Indians have become familiar with the company’s coffees and Frappuccinos while visiting abroad. This year, Starbucks turns 40. The company started selling coffee beans in Seattle’s Pike Place Market in 1971. 

Coffee consumption in India has risen by nearly 90 per cent since 1998.

Starbucks' chief executive, Howard Schultz, says this is a turning point for the company's strategy for India.  "The opportunity to grow very, very high-quality coffee in India is within reach," Schultz told The New York Times. "In many ways, there hasn't been a market and demand from a customer like Starbucks."