With cheaper products, Starbucks wants to triple number of stores in the country

With a business that corresponds today to only 0.4% of global, Starbucks in Brazil plans to expand and have a massive operation, similar to that of the United States. The goal is to reach 367 stores in four years betting outside the Rio-São Paulo. National expansion should start by Brasilia, Curitiba and Belo Horizonte. Today, there are 103 units in the Country in 17 cities of the States of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
To realize the plan even during the crisis, the company has put on the market cheaper products and has conducted six great deals per year, in addition to launch temporary items, like the espresso flavor Panettone, which was sold at Christmas. You must also increase the supply of food, to the detriment of drinks, to try to keep the stores full all day, including the lunch break.
The network comes from a period without openings – didn''t open any drive in the Country in 2016, the first year at the helm of company Rinkevicius Ricardo. The account executive who was hired to give the brazilian operation a guy more like America, where the network is one of the largest coffee, with points and national presence 13,172.
In the first few months ahead of Starbucks, Rinkevicius received the array orientation to learn more about the business and, now, already have permission to expand the brand in Brazil. Despite being ten years in the country, the company came in a slow pace of expansion – an average of 10 units per year before the new average of 64 per year by 2020.
In addition to stores in different States, are part of the strategy of Starbucks in roads – will be inaugurated this year three between São Paulo and Campinas –, in football stadiums (already has closed a contract with Corinthians Arena) and in a supermarket chain whose name is still under wraps. According to Rinkevicius, the cafes will be installed within the area of purchase, and not in the food court. Despite the high values of rents, airports are also on the radar.
For 2018, there are plans to bring the Brazil stores with the seal Reserve, in which special batch coffees are sold. Standard units are the main bet the network overall – the model Book must have 1000 points all over the world. The company also develops a project of coffee shops even more superior, where the coffee is roasted in Megastores. Baptized of Starbucks Book Roastery and Tasting Room (roasting room and tasting, in literal translation), these shops are being created with the intention of turning the coffee in a recreational program. Today, there is only one in operation in Seattle, city in which the network was founded; This year, should be opened one in Shanghai, and in 2018, in Tokyo and New York. For now, Brazil is off the project. "We need to grow up our market," says Rinkevicius.
Doubts. For the consultant Sergio Molinari, a partner in the Food Consulting, specializing in food outside the home, Starbucks has a sophisticated business model that differs from any competitor in Brazil to go beyond a simple place for coffee. "It is also a desktop or a place to find people." Molinari, however, says no view space in the country for 367 Starbucks. "Double the size network in Brazil seem possible, but more than triple is perhaps an exaggeration."
The obstacle, he says, is the profile of the customers who frequent the stores. "Starbucks is for class A and B. The network may not be able to have a size too large in a country where the upper class is small. The price of coffee is high for the Brazilian standard. "
Rinkevicius disagrees and adds that, in 2016, the company introduced a smaller, 236 ml coffee, and more affordable, that goes for 4.50 R$. Until then, the glass of 354 ml was cheaper ($ 5).