The Starbucks outlets in India are known by “Starbucks: A TATA Alliance”.

TATA Starbucks Private Limited is a Joint Venture company between TATA Consumer Products and Starbucks Corporation which brings unparalleled experience to Indian customers. Starbucks made an alliance with TATA for the Indian Market.

The Joint venture company opened its first store in 2012 and as of now, it has more than 170 stores all across the country. It was for the first time in Starbucks’ history, the company pinned its faith on a partner-owned roasting facility.

In this article, we gonna have a look through the journey of Starbucks in India i.e. its entrance in India, partnership with TATA, its localization methods for the Indian market, mutual benefits of the companies, and their international ventures.

In January 2011, TATA Coffee and Starbucks corporation announced their plans for opening Starbucks outlets in India. Earlier in 2007, Starbucks had planned to enter the Indian market with a partnership with Kishore Biryani’s Future Group but the deal couldn’t become successful for unknown reasons.

The Joint Venture is a 50:50 partnership between both the companies.

On 19 October 2012, Starbucks opened its first store in India, measuring 4,500 sq. ft in Elphinstone Building, Horniman Circle, Mumbai

All the espressos sold in Starbucks’s Indian outlets are provided by TATA coffee.

According to the part of the deal, Starbucks and Tata Coffee Limited will work toward developing and improving the profile of Indian-grown Arabica coffees around the world by elevating the level of Indian coffee.

The Joint Venture company will also work on improving the quality of coffee through sustainable practices and advanced agronomy solutions.

Starbucks never compromises on its location and always locate itself on high traffic and premium locations. 

Most of the stores are in Tier 1 cities (Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Bengaluru, etc.) major airports, and TAJ’s hotels and resorts. In India, the prime target for Starbucks is the younger generation within the age group of 16–40 years.

As Indians, we always have an aspiration for western culture and their lifestyle. Along with its western aspirational brand, Starbucks inculcates an essence of Indian local culture in its brand for India.

Starbucks has also launched its delivery program, according to which they will provide home delivery from Starbucks outlets through its partnership with Swiggy.  In the same year, CEO Navon Gurney announced that Tata Starbucks would transition to using only compostable and recyclable packaging materials across all its stores from June 2020.

Starbucks has a history of adapting localization for its expansion in the foreign markets. Eg.India, China, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and much more.

Starbucks localization strategy is a mix of local products with innovative store designs, so they can fully adapt to the culture of the location. It maintains 18 design centers worldwide, which work to understand and conceptualize store designs to reflect the local market.

Starbucks in India is localizing its brand and adopting the Indian culture in the following ways.

Starbucks made the design of the stores very Indian. The main motive behind it was to make Indians comfortable and have a community feeling inside the outlets.

Mumbai stores have wooden tables with wooden carvings and Pune stores have copper artifacts that honor the copper culture of Pune.  Similarly, in Delhi, the stores have the ropework design which was heavily influenced by the local culture.

We Indians have the habit of eating along with coffee/tea. So, Starbucks has introduced Indian dishes like Konkani Twist or a Rashmi Kebab Roll in their menu along with other tried and tested muffins and sandwiches .As we Indians prefer tea more than coffee. Hence, Starbucks have introduced Tata’s branded tea called Teavana and Himalayan water beverages to add to the products. Due to the introduction of these food items in their menu, the revenue from food and beverages is more than 35% in India which is more than 20% higher as compared to the USA.