Starbucks Marks Second Anniversary by Sharing India Estate Blend Coffee
Starbucks celebrates its second anniversary in India by announcing the locally sourced, roasted and packaged Starbucks® India Estate Blend is now available in select Starbucks stores in Asia as well as online in the United States. This commitment to highlighting India’s rich coffee heritage, builds on the strong growth of 59 Starbucks stores across six cities and more than 1,000 passionate partners (employees) in India.
“We are honored to celebrate our second anniversary in India and are proud to introduce our customers in Asia and the United States to the remarkable whole bean coffee that is sourced, and roasted in India,” said John Culver, group president, Starbucks China and Asia Pacific, Channel Development and Emerging Brands. “This is a proud moment for our partners as we honor India’s long-standing coffee heritage and celebrate an important milestone of our India journey. We are deeply committed to continuing to deliver on our promise of offering the unique Starbucks Experience to every customer in India.”
Avani Davda, chief executive officer, Tata Starbucks Limited said, “Our journey over the last two years has been truly gratifying and we are excited to celebrate this milestone by honoring the rich heritage of the Indian coffee history. We will see such initiatives only growing in the future, displaying the strong unity between Starbucks and Tata Coffee. We are also grateful for the passion our partners demonstrate for our coffee and our unique Third Place, and the instrumental role they play in taking care of our customers, every day with every cup.”
Launched as part of the first anniversary celebrations in 2013, the Starbucks India Estate Blend captures the essence and rich heritage of the Indian coffee history and draws inspiration from the finest arabica beans which have been carefully selected by Starbucks coffee experts from Tata Coffee’s estates across Coorg and Chickmagalur, the birth place of coffee in India. It is a reflection of the shared commitment between Starbucks and Tata Coffee to develop and promote Indian-grown arabica coffees. This single origin blend creates a fine balance between herbal and chocolate notes, perfect for sharing with friends and neighbors. The blend has been named to represent the origin of the coffee and the packaging has been carefully created to reflect traditional Indian designs.
“India Estate Blend demonstrates Starbucks ability to establish deep relationships with coffee farmers in order to bring unfamiliar coffees to our customers,” said Patty Romaine-Moody, a Starbucks coffee quality specialist who helped create this whole-bean blend of Indian coffees. The search for exceptional coffee beans led to southern India where coffee trees grow in fertile red soil on gently sloping land. The resulting blend is a balanced, medium-bodied coffee with herbal and chocolate flavor notes.
Starbucks entered the Indian market in October 2012 and currently operates 59 stores in India across Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad. Starbucks stores are operated by the joint venture, Tata Starbucks Limited, and branded as Starbucks Coffee - “A Tata Alliance."
About Starbucks
Since 1971, Starbucks Coffee Company has been committed to ethically sourcing and roasting high-quality arabica coffee. Today, with stores around the globe, the company is the premier roaster and retailer of specialty coffee in the world. Through our unwavering commitment to excellence and our guiding principles, we bring the unique Starbucks Experience to life for every customer through every cup. To share in the experience please visit us in our stores, online at Starbucks.in and through the Starbucks Newsroom.
About Tata Global Beverages
Tata Global Beverages is a part of the global Tata Group. Tata Global Beverages is a global beverage business and the world’s second largest tea company. The group’s annual turnover is US $1.5 bn and it employs around 3000 people worldwide. The Company focuses on ‘good for you’ beverages and has a stable of innovative regional and global beverage brands , including Tata Tea, Tetley, Himalayan natural mineral water and Eight O’ Clock Coffee. For more information, please visit www.tataglobalbeverages.com.
