Starbucks is unwilling to buy tea retailers for only $620 million in coffee.

$620 million acquisition of tea retailer

Starbucks is not willing to just sell coffee and drink tea again.

Starbucks, which changed its label last year to remove the words "COFFEE" and so on, made another move into the tea sector yesterday. The US coffee chain announced that it would buy tea retailer Teavana for $620 million in cash, targeting the international tea consumer market, which is growing at an average annual rate of 10 per cent and has $40 billion. Earlier, Starbucks has been selling tea in Chinese stores one after another.

According to reports, Teavana was founded in 1997, has more than 100 kinds of bulk tea, in addition to selling tea sets and other tea-related products, claims to have 300 direct sales stores around the world.

Starbucks said it will integrate Teavana and in the future will push the brand into other fast-growing tea consumption markets.

The reporter learned that there is still no layout of Teavana in China at present. Of the above 300 direct stores, all are located in the United States and Canada, while the other 19 international stores are all franchisees, most of which are concentrated in Mexico. As for the Chinese and Indian markets that Starbucks is trying to develop, they are all big tea consumers. Schultz, chief executive of Starbucks, told the media that he plans to open more than 1000 Teavana stores in the next five years.

In fact, many local media in the United States have interpreted Starbucks' acquisition as an attempt on the Chinese market. According to market research firm Euromonitor, the per capita consumption of tea in China is expected to be 16 times that of coffee in 2012. According to Starbucks' plan, it hopes to build China into the second overseas home market of the United States by 2014, and expects to achieve its goal of having 1500 stores in China by 2015.

(responsible Editor: Leo)