Starbucks to open in India

The joint venture offering will launch outlets, branded as Starbucks Coffee: A Tata Alliance, initially in Delhi and Mumbai.

The plan is to open 50 outlets before the end of 2012.

Starbucks is following rival Costa Coffee which has already opened stores in India, as the coffee chains aim to lure in young professionals looking to embrace Western coffee drinking habits.

As part of the joint venture, a sourcing agreement has been signed whereby Tata will roast coffee to supply for the stores.

A further part of the tie-up means that the two companies will combine their resources to offer a tea product branded as Tata Tazo.

The link-up follows an alliance between the two companies last year, when Starbucks signed an agreement with Tata Coffee, a division of Tata Global Beverages, to source and roast coffee beans in India

Starbucks currently operates more than 17,000 outlets in nearly 60 countries.

The Tata conglomerate owns a wide-ranging number of businesses, including Tata Beverages, Tata Steel and Jaguar Land Rover.

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This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk