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Starbucks to open its first coffee farm in China

Reuters

November 12, 2010

Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O) signed an agreement with Chinese provincial government bodies on Friday to open and operate its first ever coffee bean farm and processing facility in the world in Yunnan, China.

"Our investment in this coffee growing region demonstrates our ongoing commitment to build China into our second home market outside of the U.S.," said Howard Schultz, chief executive of Starbucks, in a statement.

The farm will be located in Yunnan province, a rice planting province in southwest China.

As part of the agreement, Seattle-based Starbucks will help local farmers promote responsible coffee-growing practices and develop localised coffee.

Yunnan's government also plans to invest 3 billion yuan ($453 million) in expanding green bean volume from the current 38,000 tons to 200,000 tons by 2020, Starbucks said in its press release.

Starbucks did not reveal the size of its investment.

The world's top coffee chain, which slashed costs and closed stores in 2008 and 2009 to return to growth, plans to drive earnings through new products like Via instant coffee which has been launched in the United States, Britain, Canada and Japan. [ID:nN16108312]

In September, Starbucks raised prices on some of its drinks to counter surging prices for coffee and other commodities.

Schultz told Reuters in July that economic jitters in the United States and Europe had no sales impact on the firm and that Starbucks would be focusing on emerging markets such as China and Russia.

Starbucks will debut Via, its instant coffee sometime in China this year. The firm has around 400 stores in mainland China and 800 in the Greater China region. (Reporting by Melanie Lee; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

Comments

  1. It is a very good idea to have its own coffee farm. Hopefully, it will effect the prices at the coffee shops.

    ReplyDelete

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