Starbucks India opens 500th store in its 14th year of operations

The Starbucks Reserve® in Gurugram, will be the 500th store and second reserve store in India, for the TATA Starbucks alliance that operates the cafe business. 

The new Reserve® cafe represents the pinnacle of the brand’s coffee expertise and design philosophy, where craftsmanship meets culture and coffee becomes an immersive experience for consumers. 

Sushant Dash, ceo, Tata Starbucks said, “This milestone reflects Tata Starbucks commitment to growing and celebrating India’s rich, evolving coffee culture. 

Our campaign ‘500 Ways to Belong’ is a tribute to the communities that have made Starbucks their own. Over the past decade, every store, partner, and customer has shaped how India connects over coffee.

The opening of our 500th store, the Starbucks Reserve in Gurugram reinforces our promise to continue crafting experiences that bring people together, one cup and one conversation at a time.”

What began in 2012 with the first store at Fort, Mumbai, has reached 500 stores across 81 cities, each one shaped by India’s unique culture, people, and stories, and the commitment to deliver the signature Starbucks Experience to customers in India.  

The store’s design draws inspiration from the notes of the coffee sourced from the Tata Nullore Estate and celebrates India’s rich coffee heritage through textures and artwork by local artisans.

Editor’s Note

In a country doted with neighbourhood chai bandars (small & petty shops) which also sell cigarettes and condiments, the formal coffee cafe market in India has grown the slowest among the fast-developing countries in Asia, especially.

While tourist arrivals have doubled over the last 2 decades and the population under 35 is the prime driving segment for consumer products and services, the total number of coffee shops in India remain at around 4,000 – which includes 50% by organised chains and the rest being owner driven standalone coffee shops.

Chains like Starbucks, Costa, Cafe Coffee Day, Third Wave Coffee, among a dozen others continue to remain PAT negative due to high operating costs, unreasonably low daily sales and disporportionate rent-to-sales ratios.