Korea is currently the most important region in Asia for Starbucks Corp. "Starbucks senior leadership, starting with CEO Howard Schultz, look at Korea with a very high priority. We have so much growth aspiration here," Darrel Kim, Director - Channel Business Development Asia Pacific, Starbucks Corp, was quoted as saying in a report by The Korea Herald. Since its first opening in 1999, Starbucks has maintained the number one position in Korea in terms of sales.
Last year, its 450 cafes nationwide logged SGD 336 million in sales. Kim expected the number of Starbucks cafes in Korea to reach 1,000 in the next five to six years. The growing presence will increase consumer demands for products like instant coffee and ready-to-drink beverages, and vice versa.
The Seattle-based company, which has also transformed Korea's specialty coffee culture over the past decade, now aims to extend the "affordable luxury" of its drinks to beyond the cafes by introducing their branded products. "Although consumer packaged goods remain ten per cent of Starbucks' business, revenue for that segment more than doubled over the past three years. Its profit contribution will become as big as, or bigger than, our coffee house business one day," said Kim, who oversees the Asia Pacific region, excluding China and Japan.