Business back to pre-pandemic level: Starbucks CEO

NAGPUR: Despite the pandemic, Tata Starbucks opened 50 outlets in the last year. “The expansion drive continues as the company is exploring more prospective cities,” said company CEO Sushant Dash.
“Cities other than metros also have a population with the spending capacity on premium brands. The numbers may differ from city to city but the proportion is almost the same.Nagpur has the right number of such consumers to start an outlet,” he added.
Starbucks opened its 270th outlet in the country and the first in Nagpur on Thursday.
Talking to TOI at sidelines of the inaugural function of the outlet, Dash said company business is now back to the pre-pandemic level. “In fact, things had begun looking up until the interruption due to the third wave. However, things are back to normal now,” he said.
Tata Starbucks began operations in 2012 and has so far has presence in around 27 cities with 270 outlets. Dash said the company has maintained a steady approach for growth waiting for all its criterion to be met for opening a new outlet in a given place.
“The company is also committed to women’s empowerment and as much as 40% of our employees are women in an outlet. There are some outlets in metros which are entirely manned by women,” he said.
Nagpur is the fifth city in Maharashtra where Tata Starbucks has its presence. “The other outlets are in Mumbai, Pune, Igatpuri and Nashik,” he said.