A late market entry, a mature product, the large footprint of competitors and a market which could push back on any habit changing product; Starbucks’s story in India could have gone downhill. As well it had a rocky start on its first entry into India. In the year 2007, Starbucks’s top brass was gleaming about the prospects of making profits through volumes in a billion plus market, but the Indian government body quashed that dream and Starbucks had to pull out of India.

Nonetheless, Starbucks built a solid basis for a careful re-entry into India. With its other challenges around the product maturity and market, Starbucks had a bigger challenge to surmount- How to sell a premium product in an extremely price conscious market and change an age-old habit? Besides, Café Coffee Day its closest competitor had 1200 plus cafes around India. However, a careful ‘go-to-market strategy’ expedited its success. In 2011 Starbucks re-entered India and scaled from 1 outlet in 2012 to 80 within four years.

Read on to know what Starbucks did to claim its supremacy in a non-coffee market:

1.   A Trusted Partner:

Community sourcing, wellness, environment, and diversity are cornerstones of Starbucks’s international operations. It made sure that it associates itself with everything that is ethical. Starbucks entered into a joint venture with TATA, India’s most successful and trusted business conglomerate. Their commitment towards ethical business practices cemented the belief that Starbucks adhered to the highest standards and is in India for the long haul. This helped Starbucks promise a ‘premium’ product with ‘principled’ product and ultimately justified its positioning.

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