Starbucks expects China will be its second largest market by 2014

John Culver, President Starbucks China and Asia Pacific, said on 1 April that the company expects China will be be its second largest market, outside of the United States, by 2014 Speaking at the sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia Conference 2012, Culver said that the company is confident that it will exceed 1,500 stores, across China, by 2015. “We continue to see strong growth in China giving us even greater confidence in achieving our goal of building China as our largest market, outside of the U.S., by 2014,” Culver said in a company statement. “While we have an ambitious plan to accelerate our pace of growth, we will make sure we are growing the brand in a holistic way; delivering the highest quality espresso, locally-relevant product and store design innovations, as well as elevating the special connection we have with our customers and the local communities where we do business.” Starbucks successfully entered 13 new Chinese cities during its fiscal year 2011, opening an average of 1 store every four days, Starbucks reported.  “Our partners (employees) are at the heart of delivering the Starbucks Experience to our customers each and every day,” said Culver. “It is their passion for coffee excellence, exceeding customer expectations and developing their teams, which has led to our success in China.” Starbucks entered the Chinese market, with the opening of its first store at the Beijing World Trade Centre in 1999.   “For the past 13 years, Starbucks has been successful in maintaining our coffee leadership in China because of our unwavering commitment to ensure each of our customers will only be served the finest cup of coffee every time they visit our stores, or use our coffee products at home or on-the-go,” added Culver. Starbucks today operates more than 570 stores across 48 Chinese cities. For more information on the Coffee Chain market in China see << “The Coffee Chain war that never was” >> From the March 2012 edition of Global Coffee Review