Starbucks goes Desi: World’s largest coffee chain to include masala chai and filter coffee for Indian customers

New Delhi: World’s largest coffee chain, Starbucks to attract Indian customers has revamped its menu by including masala chai and filter coffee. The chain in India has added these to beverages in their menu to make them more Indianised, affordable, and likable to Indians.

Along with these two, the menu will also offer street-style sandwiches, milkshakes, bite-sized snacks, and a smaller beverage cup. These new attempts will be first tested in four markets namely – Bengaluru, Gurgaon, Bhopal, and Indore.

“The introduction of these things is to take it to the next level. We think this will help us to get new consumers to our fold. The trigger is to create new occasions for current consumers and also get a larger expanse of consumers to come in,” said Sushant Dash, CEO of Tata Starbucks, a joint venture that operates Starbucks in India to Economic Times.

This development comes after other global restaurant chains like McDonald’s and Dominos introduced foods with Indianised touch. Pizza Hut introduced paneer pizza to meet the Indian taste buds while McDonald’s has ‘McAloo Tikki burger,’ Subway has its ‘Hara Bhara Kabab’ and KFC its ‘Biriyani Bucket.’

However, Starbucks already has chole paneer kulcha and turmeric latte on its menu, but what provoked them to include masala chai and filter coffee?

According to the company, affordability and demand for local and small-sized options were the reasons. “Some of the food items that we are launching as the starting point in a Starbucks become more affordable and attract a larger segment of consumers. The idea is to also learn, see the consumer acceptance across markets, see the nuances, check and adjust and then see where it goes,” Dash said.

Moreover, the Indian competitors of Starbucks namely Café Coffee Day and McCafe, offer beverages at a much lower price. The American firm which opened in India in 2012 comes close to two global rivals  – Canadian coffee chain Tim Hortons and British sandwich and coffee chain Pret a Manger – which announced their plans to open its branch in India this year.

Starbucks reported the fastest store expansion in the last fiscal year when it opened one store every week on average. It also entered eight new cities, bringing the total number of stores to 268, spreading across 26 cities in India.

Previously, the coffee chain localised its products in countries like China, Japan, and Saudi Arabia amongst others.

According to the market experts, the localisation of products and therefore its expansion and its entry into new territories will let quick-service restaurant chains competitive. “Companies are aware that consumer tastes keep changing and their constant desire for freshness in the menu pushes companies to keep innovating product offerings,” said Himanshu Nayyar, lead analyst at Yes Securities in an investor note.