Starbucks has opened seven consecutive stores in Kunming in less than two years and will open an average of one store a day in the next three years.

Starbucks has a new trend in Yunnan. Following the completion of the Starbucks grower support Center in Pu'er in mid-December, Starbucks Justice Square officially opened its seventh store in Kunming on the 26th.

The Yunnan territory of Starbucks

Starbucks' layout in the Kunming market has accelerated since it opened its first store in Shuncheng, Kunming in May last year, and the number of stores in Kunming has grown rapidly to seven just a year and a half later. Together with the newly opened Justice Square store, there are four Starbucks stores in the central business district of Kunming.

A person in charge of Starbucks Southwest Corporate Communication said that Starbucks opened stores in Kunming at a faster pace than in the provincial capital cities. Apart from valuing the profitability of Starbucks stores in Kunming, it is more important to value the Yunnan market.

In fact, the relationship between Starbucks and Yunnan can be traced back to 2009. Fengwu Xiangyun, launched in 2009, is Starbucks' first comprehensive coffee made with high-quality Chinese Arabica coffee beans from Baoshan, Yunnan Province. Since then, the layout of Starbucks planting base in Yunnan has developed rapidly.

In 2010, Starbucks signed a memorandum of understanding with the Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the people's Government of Pu'er City, Yunnan Province, formally confirming that it will invest in and operate a coffee grower support center and a coffee processing plant in Yunnan Province. While carrying out the layout of the planting base, the development of terminal stores in Yunnan is also carried out at the same time.

Two years later, Starbucks formally signed a joint venture with Yunnan Aiyi Group in Yunnan and set up coffee processing plants in Pu'er City and Ninger County. On the 12th of this month, Starbucks' support center for harvesting coffee growers in the Asia-Pacific region and China was officially opened and put into use.

Localization has always been an important strategy adopted by Starbucks in markets other than the United States. The newly opened Kunming Justice Square store adopts the architectural style of the old Kunming, and the interior design also has strong Kunming characteristics.

Wang Jingying, president of Starbucks China, has previously said in an interview with the media that Starbucks strives to add more local Chinese elements and apply its in-depth understanding of culture to practice, so as to capture a larger market.

It is clear that Starbucks has high hopes for the Chinese market. The goal is to make China Starbucks' second-largest market after the United States by 2014.

Speed up the opening of a store in China or become a Starbucks profit cow

Since Starbucks entered China in 1999 and opened its first store in Beijing, Starbucks now has more than 700 stores in more than 50 cities in China. Starbucks aims to operate 1500 stores in China by 2015, continuing to deepen its development in China. "this also includes Kunming," stressed a person in charge of Enterprise Communications in the southwest of Starbucks.

According to this goal, it means that Starbucks will open almost one store a day on average over the next three years. The rapid expansion of the Kunming market suggests that Starbucks will focus on the development strategy of second-and third-tier cities in the next few years.

Wang Jingying has said many times in public that she is confident that the opening of 1500 stores will be completed by 2015, and that Starbucks coffee shops will expand into more second-and third-tier cities in the future.

Howard Schultz, chairman, president and CEO of Starbucks, also recognized Starbucks' achievements in second-and third-tier cities in the Chinese market. "the performance of new stores in second-and third-tier cities is even better than that in first-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai."

Starbucks reported consolidated net income of $3.3 billion in the third quarter, up 13 per cent from the same period in fiscal 2011, with the Chinese / Asia-Pacific market performing more prominently, with net income up 31 per cent from a year earlier.

Another set of data also gives Starbucks confidence in expanding the Chinese market. A survey report from market research firm Mintel shows that the number of cafes in China has grown by 99.9% in the past five years, much faster than the growth rate of teahouses. The fast-growing Chinese market will undoubtedly become the profit cow of Starbucks in the future.

Earlier, Starbucks raised prices in Chengdu, Chongqing and other places, and it was reported that the price increase was due to high debt brought about by previous high-speed mergers and acquisitions. Yesterday, a head of Starbucks Southwest Corporate Communications responded: "We don't need to explain too much about this false rumor. if that's the case, why do Starbucks open so many new stores in the Chinese market?"

(responsible Editor: Leo)