Starbucks China perky about growth prospects

Starbucks remains upbeat about China's coffee market, and plans to double local revenue while adding 50 percent more stores over the next three years.

The leading coffee chain is evolving its growth framework in the market to capture its full potential, executives told its Investor Day conference earlier this week.

"Even as Starbucks second-largest market, China's coffee market is still in its early stages," the company said.

Through continued store expansion, growth in omni-channel, ongoing digitization efforts, increased customer and partner engagement, and the extension of coffee craft and innovation leadership, Starbucks will drive meaningful growth in China, it added.

In China, Starbucks expects to have out-sized comparable store sales performance in fiscal 2023 and fiscal 2024, as the market recovers from the severe impact of COVID-related lockdowns.

It estimates growth would be normalizing to be between 4 percent to 6 percent in fiscal 2025.

The number of China stores is expected to grow at approximately 13 percent annually to make up about one fifth of it total store numbers globally.

"China's coffee market is about to enter a new area of growth and no coffee retailer is better positioned than Starbucks to capture and benefit from the growth ahead," added Starbucks China Chairwoman Belinda Wong.