Starbucks India dumps plastic in line with global commitment

Starbucks’ India operations are among the first few for the US coffee chain worldwide to move away from plastic straws and make environment-friendly changes in cutlery, Tata Starbucks chief executive Sumitro Ghosh has said.

“We have introduced biodegradable compostable straws and wooden cutlery. We are constantly working towards greener alternatives,” he said. Various state governments in India are clamping down on use of plastic, especially for foods and beverage, with mounting concerns over the impact of plastic waste on the environment.

While the change involved an initial cost and impacted the economics a bit, it would be offset over time with volumes, Ghosh said. “We are trying to be ahead of the curve on the environment. It’s important to our customers and important to us. This is happening across the world now but India is one of the first,” he told ET.

Paper bags, glassware or ceramic options for items consumed in-store, and options such as “bring your own tumbler” where it incentivizes customers who got their own tumblers for a beverage to the store, are some of the measures Starbucks is taking, the company said.

Starbucks entered India in 2012 in partnership with Tata Global Beverages through a 50:50 joint venture. Starbucks, which has 121 stores in India, posted its first positive Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization) in 2017-18 when its sales growth nearly doubled. It is now looking at tier-two and three markets with smaller format stores and differential pricing for growth.

“Strategically, we want to penetrate existing cities we are in and then take the next steps. It’s something we learned over time,” Ghosh said. The brand has been in India for six years, but it has not yet tapped smaller markets.

The US coffee giant announced earlier this month that it would stop using disposable plastic straws by 2020 globally, eliminating more than one billion straws a year. The chain operates over 28,000 stores worldwide.

Source:-https://retail.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/food-entertainment/food-services/starbucks-india-dumps-plastic-in-line-with-global-commitment/65161194

Novotel welcomes your little monsters!

A win-win partnership

Comments

0