Hyderabad:

Tata Starbucks Limited, a 50:50 joint venture between Tata Global Beverages and Starbucks Coffee Company, is planning to take its Indian coffee blends global. For this, the world’s largest coffee retailer plans to send its Coorg sourced coffee blends to its stores in the United States and other Asian countries.

Speaking on the sidelines of launch of its flagship outlet in Hyderabad, the firm’s chief executive officer (CEO) Avani Davda said, “We have taken two very popular blends from India Indian estate blends and Indian espresso roast to the United States and Asia Pacific markets. India is a very long-term market for us and we see such initiatives only growing in the future.”

The coffee retailer, which has almost 58 stores spread across six cities in the country, has about 15-17 coffee estates spread in the Coorg region and out of this four are of the India estate blends. Processed at the company’s roasting facility at Kushalnagar in Karnat-aka, the blends may see a pick up after the United States autumn season, opined Ms Davda.

Elaborating on the expansion plans and also on their competitors, the chief executive said, “We look at social trends and it is definitely about coffee”.

“We are not focused on the Indian competition but on how well we could weave a customer centric coffee experience,” Ms Davada added.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Business> Companies / DC Correspondent / October 01st, 2014