The chairman of US-based coffee giant Starbucks has revealed that the company plans to increase its number of outlets in China and Taiwan by more than 10% next year.
Chairman Howard Schultz said the company began with modest goals upon entering the Taiwanese market in 1998 because of the fact that it is a mainly tea-drinking region.
“There were a lot of cynics five years ago that Starbucks would have a very difficult time here in Taiwan and Shanghai, and Hong Kong. That hasn’t been experienced,” the Associated Press quoted Schultz as saying. “We’re resetting our own internal goals and expectations on how large Starbucks is going to be here” Schultz added.
Starbucks currently has 102 stores in Taiwan, 30 in Hong Kong, 31 in Beijing, 32 in the Shanghai area and one in Shenzhen, reported the Associated Press.
