Starbucks finds its niche in Mexico

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Love them or hate them, the Starbucks Coffee Co. is making a big splash in Mexico. They’ve opened 116 stores, mostly in Mexico City, where some neighborhoods already have two.

How can a Seattle-based firm conquer a coffee-growing country, especially when charging the equivalent of Mexico’s minimum daily wage for a latte and a cookie?

For some of the same reasons they’ve been successful elsewhere: standardized service, choice of coffees, decent soundtracks and comfy couches to hang with your laptop while ostensibly writing a novel or wrapping up an important deal.

Of course, they weren’t facing much competition.

Many Mexican restaurants still serve instant coffee, even though growers in Veracruz and Chiapas raise some of the best beans available. Veracruz dark sells for about $12 a kilo on the street, about half the price of similar Starbucks offerings.

Posted by Sam Enriquez in Mexico City