Starbucks to hit India thru JV

US- based coffee chain Starbucks said its memorandum of understanding with India’s Tata Coffee is now moving forward, despite a rule change allowing single brand entities like the coffee giant to enter India on its own.

The MoU which has been signed earlier establishes an alliance between the two companies for sourcing coffee beans and opening coffee shops in India. The two companies will also team up on improvement of coffee-growing and milling skills by training local farmers, agronomists and technicians.

“We are moving forward with MoU (signed with Tata Coffee in 2011) discussions and planning, and hope to make an announcement soon,” said by Starbucks China and Asia Pacific president John Culver.

“We are excited about the great opportunities that India presents to Starbucks and look forward to offering high-quality coffee, handcrafted beverages, legendary service and the unique Starbucks experience to customers in India.”

Tata Coffee owns 19 coffee estates in the highlands of Southern India. It also processes the beans, exports green coffee, manufactures and exports instant coffee and retails coffee with its own branding in the domestic market. In the past, it has supplied premium coffee beans for Starbucks, with the new joint venture, Tata will lengthen and deepen its relationship with Starbucks.

“We welcome Starbucks’ entry into India because of both its unique experience with the store format and for its commitment to society, values that we share,” said R K Krishnakumar, chairman of Tata Coffee.

With more than 16,000 stores spanning in more than 50 countries, Starbucks is the world’s largest coffee chain.

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