Starbucks continues expansion into origin countries with Colombia store opening

Starbucks has continued its expansion into origin countries, with the opening of its first store in Bogota, Colombia on 16 July. Colombia is the third largest coffee producing country in the world behind Vietnam and Brazil. The move follows Starbucks’ strong entry into coffee producing countries in recent years. Starbucks opened its first store in Vietnam, the world’s second largest producer of coffee, on 31 January this year. The company has been operating in Brazil since 2006. Starbucks made its debut in India, the world’s fifth largest coffee producing nation, in October 2012. The move included a partnership with Tata Coffee to source its coffee from India. The joint venture Starbucks Tata opened a roasting and packaging plant in February 2013. The plant was the first one Starbucks opened outside of the Western World, as it only operated roasting and packaging plants in the United States and The Netherlands. India has a close to 100 per cent import duty on roasted coffee. Starbucks has committed to a similar arrangement in Colombia, promising to offer Colombian customers locally sourced and roasted coffee with regional partners Grupo Nutresa and Colcafe.