Too early to gauge impact of consumption push, says Starbucks India

Tata Starbucks says macro softness still weighs on sales, even as the chain expands its footprint and reassesses its 1,000-store target amid real estate and market constraints

Starbucks India, which continues to report losses, has not seen any impact of government measures to spur consumption in its cafe business.

 

“It’s too early to know the impact of these measures. There is more spending power with the consumer, but we don’t know if those spends will go towards food and beverages or auto or durables,” Sushant Dash, chief executive officer (CEO), TATA Starbucks, told Business Standard on Friday.

 

Dash was speaking during the launch of the coffee chain’s second Reserve store in India in Gurugram.

 

“Overall the macro-economic conditions were a little subdued, and we were impacted by that too,” Dash said about the consumer sentiment in financial year 2025, during which the company’s revenue rose a meagre 5 per cent to ~1,277 crore, while net loss widened 65 per cent to ~135.7 crore.

 

“There has not been much change. We want to focus on the medium and long terms. We want to see where the economy is going and where we want to go, rather than focusing on what is happening every quarter,” he added.

 

With 500 outposts in the country, Starbucks India is on its way to reach the 1,000-store mark, he said.

 

“Overall for the full year, we have opened 58 stores and now we are in 80 cities. We have tempered in line with statements we had put out in the middle of the quarter. Given the traffic movement that we were seeing, we have tempered our outlet opening a bit,” Sunil D’Souza, managing director and chief executive officer at Tata Consumer Products, told analysts after its Q4FY25 results.

 

“There will be ups and downs. Even in the last three years, there have been some quarters we have done well and some not. A lot of factors like real estate, licences are beyond us,” Dash said, adding that the brand will “still add 60-70 stores this year”.

 

However, speaking on the 2028 goal for 1,000 stores, he said, the goalpost might move ahead.

 

“We will continue to grow aggressively, but whether we will do exactly 1,000 stores by 2028, or we will do more or less, also depends on the availability of real estate and market conditions among others,” Dash said.