In the spirit of, well, spirits, Starbucks plans to take advantage of Asia’s emerging markets, with an eye towards the Indian subcontinent. As the Wall Street Journal recently reported:
Yes, the land of Darjeeling is also the fifth-largest exporter of coffee in the world, just behind Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, and Indonesia. India has also seen its own coffee consumption go through the roof. All of which could translate into enormous revenue for Starbucks, though doing business in India will require jumping through a few hoops, as the Journal explains:
Take Domino’s Pizza Inc.’s “Peppy Paneer” pizza, which includes paneer, the bland Indian cheese, and spicy red peppers. McDonald’s serves no beef because of the cow’s sacred status in Hinduism, but it churns out Chicken Maharaja Macs. Mr. Srinivas said Starbucks might consider savory vegetable puff pastries, an Indian breakfast treat, next to the muffins as well as chicken tikka sandwiches for lunch.
It will be interesting to see how Starbucks adapts. Meanwhile, the booze business continues to boom—with both Westerners and Indians reaping the benefits. As one reader recently reminded me, India-based United Spirits Limited (a subdivision of the UBGroup, headed by Vijay Mallya) has already acquired such renown distilleries as Dalmore and Jura.
