Starbucks to Open First Shop in Colombia in 2014

Coffee giant Starbucks announced on Monday that it is planning to open the company's first cafe in Colombia, in the capital city of Bogotá in the first half of 2014, the Huffington Post reported.

According to news site Infobae, Alsea, a Mexican company and the largest restaurant operator in Latin America of leading global brands in the fast food and cafeterias segment, will develop and operate the shops. Nutresa Group, Colombia's largest food company, will process the coffee as part of a strategic alliance.

In a joint venture between Alsea and Nutresa Group to develop Starbucks in Colombia, where the popular Juan Valdéz chain has a very firm foothold, the Mexican company will own 70 percent, while Nutresa will own 30 percent, Infobae reported.

As the Huffington Post reported, Starbucks has "aggressive plans" to open stores across Colombia over the next five years. During a press conference, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said he expected to have up to 50 stories in Bogota and other major cities during that time frame.

"We think Starbucks may open in the first year about six stores, I would be disappointed if after five years we have less than 50 [stores]. But we will do so in a methodical and respectful way," said Schultz, according to Infobae.

Starbucks' major competition will be the Juan Valdez chain, owned by the National Federation of Coffee Growers, the guild of coffee producers in the South American country that has over 225 around the world (170 of which are in Colombia). The chain also has stores in Madrid, Perú, Chile, New York, Miami and Mexico City. The Federation comprises 560,000 families dedicated to growing coffee beans.

The Huffington Post reported that Schultz met with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and with members of the coffee federation, with whom the CEO discussed " increasing Starbucks' use of Colombian coffee worldwide by about 20 percent over the next three years."

"We will be very respectful of the long history of coffee farmers in Colombia. We will recognize the long history of Juan Valdez in this market and we are not here, in no way, to compete or to be disrespectful to them," said Schultz.

The Starbucks CEO said that the average investment for opening a store is between $400,000 and $500,000, and that each store creates 10 to 20 jobs, according to Infobae.

Despite Starbucks' ambitions to break into the Colombian market, the company may have a hard time stealing Colombian customers away from the Juan Valdez chain. "We will remain loyal to the Colombian coffee of Juan Valdez," said 41-year-old office worker Rafael Reyes, sipping black coffee at a Juan Valdez shop, the Huffington Post reported.