American coffeehouse chain Starbucks is reported to introduced masala chai and filter coffee to appeal to more Indian consumers. Masala chai and filter coffee are Indian varieties of tea and coffee beverages respectively. While masala chai is a tea beverage infused with spices and herbs, filter coffee is a creamy and frothy variant that has origins in South India.
As per the source, the refreshed menu also includes assembled sandwiches, milkshakes, bite-sized snacks, and so forth. Starbucks will not be the first international food or beverage retail chain to go ‘Indianisation’.
McDonald’s, for instance, introduced burgers like Chicken Maharaja Mac and McAloo Tikki to lure in Indian consumers used to desi palate. Similarly, Domino’s also offers pizzas inspired by local dishes.
Sushant Dash, the CEO of Tata Starbucks that operates Starbucks in India told, “The introduction of these things is to take it to the next level. We think this will help us to get new consumers to our fold. The trigger is to create new occasions for current consumers and also get a larger expanse of consumers to come in.”
He added, “Some of the food items that we are launching as the starting point in a Starbucks become more affordable and attract a larger segment of consumers. The idea is to also learn, see the consumer acceptance across markets, see the nuances, check and adjust and then see where it goes.”
