04/11/2019
Starbucks has failed in South Africa so far but is set for a do over
Just three years ago, residents of the Rosebank neighborhood of Johannesburg were buzzing around the launch of the first Starbucks store in sub-Saharan Africa. Even though the city has plenty of independent coffee shops and cafes and some local chains, the brand cachet of Starbucks brought with it a frisson of excitement and global modernity that some South Africans crave. While it was never expected to be a mainstream brand in a country with 57% poverty and harsh inequality, Starbucks South Africa has still managed to perform worse than many watchers expected. Taste Holdings, the Johannesburg-based company that franchised the Starbucks brand exclusively in South Africa, said it is selling...
