Tata Starbucks dismisses India exit reports

Tata Starbucks on Friday said it is fully committed to the India market, which continues to be a key growth area for Starbucks globally.

Tata Consumer Products Ltd had on Thursday termed reports suggesting that the cafe chain Starbucks is planning to exit the Indian market as "baseless".

"Starbucks is fully committed to the Indian market. Any statements suggesting otherwise are false. Tata Starbucks currently operates more than 470 stores in 76 cities across India, which continues to be a key growth market for Starbucks globally," said Tata Starbucks.

Tata Starbucks is a 50:50 joint venture between Tata group FMCG arm Tata Consumer Products Ltd (TCPL) and US-based Starbucks Corporation, which operates a cafe chain in India under the brand name of Starbucks.

Tata Starbucks revenue from operations was up 12% to Rs 1,218.06 crore in FY24. However, its loss for the period widened to Rs 79.97 crore from Rs 24.97 crore in FY23 due to the expansion.

Its advertising promotional expenses were up 26.8% to Rs 43.20 crore and royalty was at Rs 86.15 crore, according to financial data accessed through the business intelligence platform Tofler.

Last month TCPL MD & CEO Sunil D'souza told PTI that it will focus on scaling up the Starbucks cafe chain here and is not looking at store profitability.

"With Starbucks, we are very clear that the store profitability is not an issue. And as we get to scale, we know that we can generate profits out of it," D'souza had told PTI in the last week of November.

Starbucks was responding to reports that suggested that the American company was planning to quit Indian operations due to high operating cost, mounting losses, and availability of cheaper local alternatives in the market.

Starbucks entered India in October 2012 through a joint venture with the Tata Group. The first Starbucks store in India was opened in the Elphinstone Building in Mumbai.