Tata Global Beverages Limited and Starbucks Coffee Company have announced a joint venture — Tata Starbucks Limited.
This is one of the biggest joint ventures shared between the second-largest branded tea company in the world and the iconic international coffee brand.
The 50/50 joint venture will own and operate Starbucks cafés which will be branded as Starbucks Coffee “A Tata Alliance.”
The retail stores will be developed in cities across the country, starting with Delhi and
Mumbai, in the year 2012.
Through a separate coffee sourcing and roasting agreement, Starbucks and Tata Coffee Limited will work towards developing and improving the profile of India-grown Arabica coffees around the world by elevating the stature of Indian coffee through joint marketing efforts, as well as improving the quality of coffee through sustainable practices and advanced agronomy solutions.
Together, the JV will enable an expanded range of beverage offerings for Indian consumers. As a first step, the companies have agreed to jointly leverage assets and innovation to offer a premium tea product branded, Tata Tazo. The JV will operate cafés under the Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) category. This partnership will enable the introduction of the unique Starbucks Experience to Indian consumers.
“The joint venture with Starbucks is in line with Tata Global Beverages’ strategy of growing through the inorganic growth focussing on strategic alliances in addition to organic growth,” stated R K Krishnakumar, VC, Tata Global Beverages.
He added, “It opens up exciting business opportunities and new formats for Tata Global Beverages. Starbucks brings unique retail expertise as well as a shared sense of business values. We are excited about the opportunities the alliance presents to innovate in the retail space and bring new beverage experiences to more consumers in India, leveraging the global in-home expertise of Tata Global Beverages and the global out-of-home expertise of Starbucks.”
Through an initial financial commitment, Starbucks will work with Tata to support ‘Swastha’, a school for children with special needs (in partnership with the Coorg Foundation) and aim to increase its capacity and outreach into the rural communities in the coffee-growing region of Karnataka. Tata Coffee and Starbucks also plan to work together on initiatives including the promotion of responsible agronomy practices and the provision of training local farmers, technicians and agronomists to improve their coffee-growing and milling skills, along with exploring community projects which could positively impact the communities in the coffee-growing regions where Tata is active.
source: http://www.fnbnews.com / Top News/ our Bureau, Bangalore / Thursday, February 02nd, 2012
