Starbucks Coming to India?

It is definitely a possibility at this point. The Seattle-based Starbucks Corp. is currently in talks with India’s Tata Coffee Ltd. to collaborate in bringing the Starbucks franchise into the country’s growing economy.

In years past, India was a predominantly tea-drinking nation, however that all changed as Indian culture began to absorb Western sensibilities from various media. As a result, the demand for coffee in India has grown over 80% in the last decade, according to government figures, which translates to over 108,000 metric tons of coffee consumed in that period of time.

If Starbucks does manage to open locations in India, it will be facing some stiff competition from India’s current leader in retail coffee chains, Cafe Coffee Day. It is being speculated that Indians may be seeing the Starbucks mermaid within the span of the next three months.

(Via The Wall Street Journal)