Starbucks celebrates 15 years in Mexico, pledges more growth
Since opening in front of the Angel de la Independencia in Mexico City, Starbucks has been part of Mexico for 15 years, an anniversary the coffee chain is celebrating with a contest.
The Seattle-based chain has opened 600 branches nationwide, including eight in Mérida, most recently at the Gran Hotel on Calle 60.
This is also a landmark year for Starbucks in Mérida. The chain first came to the city in 2007, opening a branch at the Gran Plaza mall. According to Ana Martini of TWL, a market research firm in Mexico City, coffee consumption was less than half what it is today.
Alsea, the management company that runs Starbucks in Mexico, has committed to investing 800 million pesos between 2017 and 2018 to continue its expansion here. Starbucks employs 7,000 workers in Mexico and has pledged to comply with its contractual obligation to add another 50 branches and 1,200 jobs through next year.
Alsea, which also runs other chains including Burger King and Chili’s, says Starbucks is its most profitable brand, contributing 23 percent of its sales at the end of the year’s second quarter.
El Economista says 80 percent of Starbucks’ expansion budget will go toward new openings, 10 percent for remodeling and 10 percent for infrastructure issues.
Starbucks has launched a contest to celebrate its milestone. The prize for the best personal story about going to Starbucks is a trip to Seattle to see the first Starbucks store and the Starbucks Reserve Roastery & Tasting Room. The second-place winner will be sent to Hacienda Alsacia in Costa Rica, a Starbucks research hub in an estate on the slopes of the Poás Volcano in Alajuela.
Lee Steele is the founding director of Mérida-based Roof Cat Media S de RL de CV and has published Yucatán Magazine and other titles since 2012. He was Hearst Connecticut’s Sunday Magazine creative director and worked in New York City for various magazine publishers, including Condé Nast and Primedia, for over 20 years.
