Starbucks opens first store in Colombia, home of Juan Valdez
(Elise Amendola / Associated Press)
Starbucks has purchased arabica beans from Colombian farmers for decades.
Now it wants to serve Colombians a venti Caramel Macchiato.
The Seattle coffee giant opened its first Colombian store Wednesday in an upscale neighborhood of Bogota. It’s the first of 50 that Starbucks plans throughout the country. Each will serve only locally sourced coffee—a first for the company.
The opening of a three-level store in Colombia’s capital pits the coffee roaster against Colombia’s premier Juan Valdez chain, which is owned by growers and has roughly 200 Colombian stores. The grower-owned coffee chain has more stores worldwide.
Starbucks has more than 700 stores across Latin America.
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