Mumbai, June 27: The Tata group and Starbucks Coffee Company are bolstering their over four-year old partnership through new joint initiatives.
Under these initiatives, Starbucks will introduce India's single-origin coffee in the US market and take the Tata group's Himalayan mineral water to Singapore later this year.
This apart, Starbucks will bring its Teavana specialty tea brand to India this December. Both the partners will also bring in a signature Indian tea blend that will be available across all Starbucks stores in the country.
A joint statement said that the single-origin coffee will be available at Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room in Seattle later this year.
"These announcements build upon the incredible success and shared values between Starbucks and Tata in our partnership in India," said Howard Schultz, chairman and chief executive officer of Starbucks.
Starbucks also announced plans to increase its coffee roasting capacity for supplying to its stores in India and, over time, select markets around the globe.
While Tata Coffee's plant at Kushalnagar in Coorg, Karnataka, roasts the "Starbucks India Estates Blend" and "Espresso Roast" coffees, the plan is to expand to include both Kenyan and Sumatran coffees for Starbucks stores in the country.
"Our journey with Starbucks since 2012 has been gratifying and we are pleased to build on the strong relationship between Starbucks and the Tata group as we continue to further advance Indian coffee around the globe'', Mistry said.
Further, Starbucks coffee will also be available on Vistara, the full service airline which is a joint venture between the Tatas and Singapore Airlines.
It was in 2012 that Tata Global Beverages Ltd and Starbucks entered into a 50:50 joint venture named TATA Starbucks Ltd. A separate sourcing and roasting agreement was then entered between Starbucks and Tata Coffee wherein the latter will roast coffee to supply TATA Starbucks Ltd, and to export to Starbucks. According to news reports, the joint venture generated total revenues of over Rs 171 crore in the year ended March 31, 2015 even as losses showed a decline.
