Tata Starbucks opens 1st Reserve store in India

Tata Starbucks, which has completed a decade of operations in a checkered manner in terms of profitability and expansion, on Tuesday announced the launch of its first Reserve store here. Tata Starbucks, which currently operates 300 stores across 36 cities in India and is an arm of Tata Consumer Products, has added 32 stores in 14 cities this year so far, atop 50 stores added last fiscal.

Adding 32 stores across 14 cities so far is the largest store expansion in a single year, Tata Starbucks chief executive Sushant Dash told PTI here.

Dash said the company, which is yet to report its maiden profit, is out of the pandemic blues with Q1 FY23 revenue more than doubling to Rs 251 crore. In FY22, its topline grew 78 per cent to Rs 636 crore. It reported a net loss of Rs 95 crore.

But Dash insisted the company is cash positive while refusing to offer a timeline on when it will be able to turn profitable.

Starbucks Reserve store aims to elevate the coffee experience of the brand by introducing an intimate, multisensory coffee experience to customers, said Michael Conway, the group president for international and channel development at the Seattle-based Starbucks.

He added that the Reserve store is a premium offering and will be priced accordingly.