Starbucks Faces Fierce Contest As India's Richest Man Brings UK's Iconic Pret A Manger To Mumbai

Reliance Industries, owned and led by India's richest man Mukesh Ambani, has now set its eyes on Starbucks with its entry into the coffee segment after launching the country’s first Pret A Manger outlet.

What Happened: Earlier this week, the British sandwich and coffee chain opened its first store at Mumbai's Bandra-Kurla complex, where Apple recently inaugurated its first Indian store. 

In a bid to take on Starbucks India, Ambani plans a total of 10 Pret A Manger stores in India in the first year of the franchisee partnership between RIL's subsidiary Reliance Brands Limited and the British chain. 

See Also: What Is Reliance Jio Share Price And Is It Possible To Buy?

India's first Pret A Manger store has been designed to resemble the iconic London shops of the chain and features a spacious dining area that covers an area of 2,567 square feet.

Starbucks India, the joint venture between Starbucks SBUX and Tata Group, on Wednesday, said it achieved a sales milestone of over $133 million (₹1000 crore) in India after starting operations just over a decade ago. Indian units of the world's largest coffee retailer saw their sales jump by 71% in the fiscal year 2022-23.

Why It Matters: Starbucks India has been the country’s most dominant player in the coffee space. It has 275 stores across 30 cities.

Ambani has been ramping up his game against some major global brands as he sets the stage to expand his empire. RIL recently revived the iconic cola brand Campa to compete with soft drink giants like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo.

See Also: What Is Campa Cola’s Share Price And How To Buy?

The billionaire's conglomerate plans to expand its streaming service by adding over 100 movies and TV shows as it seeks to pit Jio Cinema against major international companies like Walt Disney's Disney+ Hotstar and Netflix. 

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