Starbucks set to open up in South Africa
Starbucks may be one of the world’s most famous – not to mention popular – coffee chains. But not even the Seattle-based giant has penetrated all four corners of the map just yet. They might have a substantial presence in North America, Europe and East Asia, and they might have stores in South America, the Middle East and Australia, but there is one place that they haven’t conquered: Sub-Saharan Africa.
All that could change though, as the company has announced they are going to be opening their first store in South Africa next year.
Now, we must state that this isn’t the first time that Starbucks has tried to establish a base in South Africa. As Sibusiso Tshabalala astutely pointed out in his article on the matter, they piggybacked on the influx of tourists for the 2010 World Cup and set up a base in a handful of Tsogo Sun hotels. However that partnership ended in 2011 and its reach was limited and menu was limited; only seven products were offered to customers.
Starbucks is jumping into the South African coffee sector at a competitive time. Like their foray into the Indian market, the company will find itself batting with a number of well-established competitors such as Seattle Coffee, the home-grown Vide e Cafe and the New Zealand-based chain Wild Bean Coffee.
And like they have done with their Indian operations, Starbucks has partnered up with a local company to smooth their entry into a new country. That company is Taste Holdings.
Taste Holdings has plenty of experience setting up and managing retail stores: They currently operate all of Domino’s 150 outlets in southern Africa, with plenty of those being located within South Africa’s borders.
Fin24 reports that staff earmarked for Starbucks’ maiden store in Johannesburg will be flown out to Seattle for training whilst the interior will be designed by a group based in London.
What do the locals think about this? Attempting to answer that question was Karabo Kgole, a media analyst based in South Africa’s capital: “Ultimately, coffee drinkers will be the winners.
“Coffee lovers will benefit from having another brand to explore.”
Starbucks moving into Africa very interesting ! How many stores do they plan on opening and when are they expecting to hit theater here . I have no doubt that this is going to put local businesses out of pocket !
Hi Tyron, That I don't know off hand. I can certainly do some digging around. It's certainly more than one as all the official press releases refer to 'stores'!