As part of Starbucks’s plan to speed up the expansion in India, the company’s joint venture in the country, Tata Starbucks, aims to open smaller stores and drive-through outlets as they are faster to open and to experiment with new ideas. The aim is to open 40-50 outlets this year.
With the country slowly getting back to normal after the impacts of COVID-19, Tata Starbucks is taking advantage of the situation by heading straight on with its expansion plans.
…driving Tata Starbucks to be far more aggressive in store openings, new formats, and in entering new cities… All we’ve got to figure out is how quickly we can scale. We have got a window of opportunity because the competition is on the back foot.
CEO of Tata Consumer Products Sunil D’Souza
Even though the demand in India is leaning more towards tea, the popularity of coffee brands like Starbucks is still very high. Currently, there are 233 outlets in the country and are in large format. The company is now venturing towards new concepts where outlets can be opened faster. D’Souza stated that it’s an idea they are exploring since a drive-through opened up in northern India last year.
