Tata Starbucks to use only compostable & recyclable packaging solutions from next June

In FY23, Tata Starbucks has achieved a remarkable growth of 71%, crossing the Rs 1,000 crore revenue mark for the first time.

Tata Consumer Products announced in their earnings release that the year was significant for their business, as they were able to achieve a top line in the four-digit range.

The company's net sales for the year amounted to Rs 1,087 crore, and according to its earnings presentation, the business earned a positive earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) for the year. The company acknowledged that the growth in top line for the financial year was measured against a base that had been affected by the pandemic.

Tata Starbucks achieved a revenue growth of 48% in the January-March quarter. During FY23, the coffee chain expanded by opening 71 new stores and entering 15 new cities, which is the highest-ever annual store addition, bringing its total store count to 333 across 41 cities.

According to the company's presentation, the My Starbucks Rewards loyalty program experienced a year-on-year growth of 100%, surpassing 2.3 million members.

Tata Starbucks stated its intention to rapidly increase its presence in the coming years, and to achieve this, they aim to improve their relevance to a wider range of consumer segments. The company also noted that pilot stores had shown improved operating metrics.

The company conducted a pilot program across four cities in 2022, which included introducing familiar options in the beverage menu, revamping the food menu, refurbishing store interiors, and adding a piccolo size to its hot beverage offerings. These initiatives will be implemented nationally in 2023.

In 2012, Starbucks made its entry into the Indian market by opening its first store in Mumbai, through a joint venture with the Tata Group.

Tata Starbucks is celebrating their 10^th anniversary in India and has announced the #BrewYourOwnStarbucks campaign, by offering its customers a-once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get featured on the Starbucks menu!

“At Starbucks, customers are at the centre of everything we do, and it all starts with their names. As we mark our 10^th anniversary in India, we want to celebrate all our customers and the hidden barista in them. Our customers are as passionate about coffee as we are and are full of new ideas and creativity. In this unique campaign, customers are invited to share their own bespoke recipes for a Starbucks beverage and stand a chance to get their names and special beverages featured on the Starbucks menu,” shared Deepa Krishnan, Chief Marketing Officer, Tata Starbucks Pvt Ltd.

To further amplify this campaign, this unique campaign has been brought to life with a film, conceptualised and produced by Edelman India in collaboration with The Yellow Umbrella Films.

The film highlights TATA Starbucks’ 10-year milestone in India, while giving consumers the unique opportunity to engage with the brand and be a part of its iconic legacy.

The film calls out customers to join this one-of-a-kind campaign by sending beverage ideas that are uniquely theirs and standing a chance to be featured on Starbucks menus.

Tata Starbucks Private Limited launches its latest partner (employee) benefit program in India, placing the safety, comfort and aspirations of its women partners at the forefront.

The new ‘Women Transportation Program’ offers its women partners working in closing shifts, a seamless commute facility to safely travel back home post night shifts, empowering them to make career choices that support their growth.

“Partners are the heartbeat of Starbucks and we will always keep partner care at the centre of how we choose to do business. With The Women Transportation Program, our aim is to support our women partners in every possible way and at every step of their journey, empowering them to grow and progress in their careers,” shared Sushant Dash, CEO, Tata Starbucks Pvt. Ltd. 

This program provides women partners a chauffeur-driven car, enabled with a GPS tracking system and equipped with other safety measures for any emergencies.

The program, which has currently been launched across Mumbai and Bangalore covering few stores, will be extended to a few more routes in the coming years.

The café chain has also launched its ninth all-women store on 8^th October, 2021 at Jio World Drive in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC). This new store is led by female partners who are Coffee Masters and is the brand’s first store in India to have a four-tap nitro capability.

The new initiative supports the aspirations of Tata Starbucks’ women partners by offering them the flexibility to opt for a shift that meets their professional and personal requirements, thus encouraging an inclusive and supportive work environment.

“The launch of Tata Starbucks’ Women Transportation Program is a moment of pride for us and marks an important milestone in our journey of supporting and empowering our partners. This initiative is another step towards Tata Starbucks’ efforts to achieve 40 percent gender diversity by the end of 2022”, added Nabamita Banerjee, Head, Human (Partner) Resources, Tata Starbucks Pvt. Ltd.

Tata Starbucks Private Limited announced a partnership with Tata CLiQ Luxury, for its signature Starbucks Essentials and coffee brewing equipment.

Customers can now order the signature Starbucks range of merchandise such as mugs, tumblers, sippers, from the comfort of their home on Tata CLiQ Luxury.

Underscoring its long-term commitment to the country and supporting its vision of offering more ways for customers to engage with the brand across digital channels, this association will further strengthen Tata Starbucks’ e-commerce presence across India. The company aims at tapping into the e-commerce portal’s customer base.

“Tata Starbucks is delighted to partner with Tata CLiQ Luxury, offering their audience the option to purchase our curated range of signature merchandise and coffee brewing equipment from the comfort of their homes. Building on our existing digital-first features, we look forward to delivering an authentic Starbucks Experience at our customer’s home,” said Deepa Krishnan, Director - Marketing, Category, Loyalty, Digital, Tata Starbucks Private Limited.

The pricing consistent across in-store and ranging between INR 450 to INR 2,200*.

“We are delighted to announce the launch of Tata Starbucks on our platform. With this partnership we are able to offer the Starbucks Experience to our customers in the comfort of their homes,” added Vikas Purohit, CEO, Tata CLiQ Luxury.

Starbucks stores across the country have re-opened for dine-in and takeaways in line with the guidelines issued for the respective cities.

Tata Starbucks Private Limited has expanded its presence in Gujarat with the launch of an outlet in Vadodara market. The new outlet is located at Centre Square Mall.

Vadodara outlet is Tata Starbucks’ seventh store in Gujarat and the 170th in India. This is the eleventh city for the coffee chain’s footprint in the country.

Navin Gurnaney, Chief Executive Officer of Tata Starbucks Pvt Ltd, said, “We have had an incredible journey in India so far; this year we have reached the 170th store milestone and set foot in three new cities in the same year, all in Gujarat. After having successfully opened our doors to customers across Ahmedabad and Surat, we are delighted and honoured to bring Starbucks to Vadodara and endeavour to continue to expand our footprint in India.”

New store offerings

The newly launched outlet will provide a wide range of Starbucks offerings. These include the Starbucks signature espresso-based beverages such as Cappuccinos, Americanos, Lattes and all-time favourites like Cafe Mocha, Java Chip Frappuccino, Signature Hot Chocolate and Caramel Macchiato.

The Vadodara outlet will be serving Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew, the latest in a series of coffee innovations highlighting the barista craft and high-quality coffee. It will further offer a range of Teavana teas, including the Starbucks signature tea innovation, India Spice Majesty Blend, available for those who seek a modern and reimagined tea experience.

Delighting customers in Vadodara

In order to enhance customer experience, Starbucks is serving food items that cater to all customer needs such as breakfast, lunch and everything in between with an extensive food menu comprising Indian and international favourites.

The new outlet will provide customers with more vegetarian food options as well. Starbucks’ extensive dessert range is sure to delight customers in Vadodara, celebrating the culinary expertise of the brand.

The company is also bringing to customers in Vadodara its loyalty programme, My Starbucks Rewards. This program offers members the opportunity to earn rewards and personalised benefits, ranging from a free beverage in the birthday month to free-size upgrades and special offers on food, beverages and merchandise.

The Vadodara outlet will also provide the unique Starbucks range of merchandise and Starbucks gift cards that customers across India love.

“Our aspiration is to delight our customers in Vadodara with the Starbucks Third Place experience that is built on three core fundamentals, the connection our partners (employees) have with our customers, our stores and our coffee,” Gurnaney further added.

Tata Starbucks has introduced pay parity between men and women across verticals in its workforce in India. With this, Starbucks becomes the first company in India’s food and beverage sector to do so.

Tata Starbucks has 29% of women's employee strength. It is Starbucks’ fourth unit to achieve pay parity after the US, Canada and China.

Deepa Krishnan, Head (Marketing), Tata Starbucks, said, “Our employees are gauged solely on experience and skills, and not gender. Most companies face issues when women rejoin the workforce after a break, be it for marriage or childbirth. We are ensuring that candidates, with their respective level of experience and skillsets, aren’t differentiated on the basis of their gender.”

In 2016, Tata Starbucks was the first Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) chain in India to provide a five-day work week to all employees.

Currently, Starbucks has 167 outlets and 2,000 employees on its rolls across India. The brand has been on an expansion spree in the country.

Apart from pay parity and five-day work week, Tata Starbucks has several other policies like flexible shifts, mentorship, as well as maternity and paternity leave to retain staff.

“The share of women in India’s workforce was 37% a decade ago. In 2018, the number decreased to around 26%. There are societal reasons for this. Family plays an important role for working women; we invite employees’ family members to our outlets. When they see the work environment and the respect customers have for our staffers, there is a positive impact,” Krishnan added.

Tata Starbucks has entered into the western state of Gujarat with the launch of five stores in the cities of Surat and Ahmedabad. The Seattle-based coffee chain now has 157 outlets in 10 cities including Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru, among others.

The company is planning to open more than 30 outlets in India in the current financial year. This will be the largest number of store additions by the coffee chain in a year since it launched its first outlet in the country in Mumbai in 2012.

In India, Starbucks is operating through a 50:50 joint venture with Tata Global Beverages started its first store in India in October of 2012. The company added 25 stores in the country in the financial year 2017-18, and another 30 in the financial year 2018-19.

Navin Gurnaney, CEO, Tata Starbucks Private Limited, said, “So two years ago we built 25 stores, last year we did 30, and the plan this year is to substantially exceed last year’s number. We will open more stores in FY 20 than in any other year in the past in India.”

India is one of the top five fastest growing markets for the coffee chain globally.

“And we remain committed to the growth plans. We will be thoughtful but we will be aggressive as we go forward,” Gurnaney added.

The company invests Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 2 crore in opening a new outlet in the country. Starbucks will continue making such investments as it rolls out more cafes at malls, busy markets, metro stations, airports and office complexes.

Gurnaney stated, “We are going to rely on depth in the market where we exist already and breadth as we go out to new cities and states.”

Tata Starbucks has reported that its sales grew by 30% in FY19. This has been achieved on the back of the addition of new outlets as demand for quality beverages increased in Indian metro cities.

Tata Starbucks, a joint venture between the Tata Group and Starbucks, posted sales of Rs 346 crore in FY18. It had garnered revenue of about Rs 450 crore during the last fiscal.

Last year, the Seattle-based coffee chain added about 30 stores. Now, it has a store count of 146. Tata Starbucks unveiled 15 cafes just last quarter.

Started operations in India in October 2012, Starbucks recorded the fastest store expansion in the company’s history in the initial few years.

Himanshu Nayyar and Poorvi Khandelwal, Analysts at Systematix Investments, said, “The strong double-digit growth in the Tata Starbucks JV should remain driven by the improved in-store performance with 25% store-level margins and new store rollout of about 40 additions annually.”

Tata Global Beverages Ltd (TGBL) has said that Tata Starbucks, a 50:50 joint venture between Tata Global Beverages and Starbucks Coffee of the US, is eyeing huge expansion drive in the next few years.

Rakesh Sony, Global Head (strategy and M&A), Tata Global Beverages Ltd, said, "TGBL is in the process of consolidation. If you look at our India business, in the first nine months of this financial year, we have grown about nine percent in terms of volume and seven percent in terms of value."

"We are a large business. In India, we are among the top two brands and our market share is about 20 percent. One thing TGBL has not consciously done in the last 3-4 years is to aggressively invest behind our brands, which we have now decided to do. So, you will see some amount of margin pressure in the temporary phase. However, it’s been done for a larger good and for the larger cause," he added.

Sony further stated, "Therefore, our brands will continue to perform very well in India and overseas too in the next few quarters. We see India margins returning to 14-15 percent."

Global café chain Starbucks has opened its first Reserve Bakery Café in Shanghai, which will offer made-to-order breakfast, lunch, and baked goods from Princi Bakery, along with weekend brunch.

This new format category is Starbucks’s next step to grow its business in China.

The opening of this new store marks the addition of yet another concept in Starbucks’ growing portfolio of Reserve store formats.

“Today marks yet another significant milestone as we take everything we have learned around coffee and our relentless pursuit for food innovation, to create a new exciting all-day cafe dining and Italian aperitivo experience,” said Belinda Wong, CEO, Starbucks China in a press statement.

The coffee chain runs four Reserve Roasteries around the world, Reserve Store, currently in Seattle; and the Reserve Bar, which serves Roastery coffee in pre-existing Starbucks locations, with 20 United States locations and 150 locations in China.

The new café will offer coffee and tea cocktails crafted by mixologists along with the premium Starbucks Reserve coffees.

The Shanghai Reserve Bakery Café will also host aperitivo experiences, or happy hour cocktails paired with a “free-flow” of small bites, a concept that can also be found at the Milan Reserve Roastery. Shanghai customers can choose to spend their aperitivo time indoors or on the outdoor patio.

“Our ability to consistently elevate the customer and brand experience in a meaningful and respectful manner truly reflects Starbucks unmatched energy and operational capabilities to execute against our purpose-driven growth agenda to play the long game in China,” added Wong.

Tata Starbucks, 50:50 joint venture between Tata Global Beverages and Starbucks Coffee of the US, is planning to open 10 more stores in the next two months. The launch of these stores will take the total count to around 145 outlets.

L Krishnakumar, CFO of TGBL Group, said, "We currently have around 136 stores and we would open another between 5 to 10 stores by the end of the year (fiscal). We have seen an increase in the store roll out. We look at activating more stores roll out in the next few years, what we have seen in the past."

Recently, the premium coffee chain has started food delivery through online food aggregator apps such as Swiggy. 

Tata Starbucks is sourcing over 90% of the coffee from Tata Coffee. 

TGBL has started some of its premium coffee in the US and some other market by leveraging Starbucks relationship beyond India. 

"From value-wise it's not significant but important from a brand perspective. There are some premium coffees which have been launched in the Starbucks store in different parts," Krishnakumar added. 

Starbucks opened its first store in India at Horniman Circle, Mumbai, in 2012.

Tata Starbucks, the joint venture between Starbucks global and the Tata Group, is aiming to achieve break even by FY20.

“The break even is expected for FY 19-20. India, while it presents a tremendous amount of opportunity there are also challenges, “said Navin Gurnaney, CEO, Tata Starbucks.

As per analysts’ reports, the café chain was expected to break even in FY19 but Gurnaney clarified that it will only happen in the next fiscal.

He added that the occupancy costs are not that easy in the country but was proud of what the company could accomplish since it began its journey in 2012.

“We are very proud of having broken even (target of FY19-20) in a very short period of time,” he said adding that international players like Domino’s and McDonald’s had to wait for a decade to get a break even.

 He also mentioned that as comparison to the other Asian markets the store profitability is ahead at Tata Starbucks.

The company reportedly had posted a net loss of Rs 30.5 crore in FY18 in India.

Tata Global Beverages in its annual report for FY 17-18 had said Tata Starbucks improved sales by 28 percent with robust in-store performance and new stores added during the year. It had posted Rs 272 crore in sales during FY17. It had added that for the first time since inception, the company recorded a positive Ebitda.

Currently, the coffee chain is operating 136 stores in the country and will finish this year at 144 stores, with additional outlets in the future.

Gurnaney, who took charge last month after replacing Sumitro Ghosh said that the growth is always on their mind.  “We have seen that in other Asia Pacific markets, once the market approaches the USD 2000 per capita income point, then it is almost a recognized point of inflection. That’s where the consumption really takes off. It’s a big pie and there is room for everybody to grow,” he added.

Known for its innovative beverages and coffee globally, Starbucks is taking beverage innovation to new heights with the launch of 134 new, crafted beverages.

Delivering on the iconic ‘Third Place’ experience, while strengthening commitment to innovation and coffee passion, Starbucks has introduced ‘Starbucks Barista Pride’ where baristas from each Starbucks store will feature a beverage unique to their store, conceptualized and created by themselves.

“Starbucks is committed to delivering an unparalleled, unique experience for every customer. At Starbucks, we believe in celebrating each customer’s individual coffee preference and profile. For us each cup of coffee is unique and especially suited to the coffee palette of our customer. With a deep understanding of coffee, our Starbucks baristas personalize each cup to perfection,” shared Veetika Deoras, Head – Marketing, Category, Digital and Loyalty at Tata Starbucks Pvt. Ltd.

All Starbucks store across India will serve a specially curated beverage, enabling customers to ‘coffee hop’ and try 134 unique beverages till the end of February.

The wide range of unique beverages includes Turkish Espresso Praline, Chai White Chocolate Mocha and Winter Chocolate Cream that are available at the Chapel Road store in Mumbai, Vega Mall store in Bangalore and at the DLF Hub store in Delhi respectively.

Also, the global coffee chain is expected to break even by the end of FY19, after more than six years of opening its first store, here in India.

Global coffee major Starbucks is expanding its delivery in over 2000 stores in the US, China.

The Seattle- based chain has partnered with Uber Eats to expand it delivery network.

In China, delivery will be offered from 2,000 stores in 30 cities by the end of this year, up from 150 stores at the end of September. Starbucks began working with its Chinese delivery partner, Ele.me, three months ago.

The coffee chain has made the statement at an investor presentation Thursday in New York.

In the US, its largest market, Starbucks says it still sees significant opportunities to expand and expects to open 550 new stores annually over the next few years.

Starbucks is also planning to close 150 underperforming stores in 2019.

In China, Starbucks plans to open 600 stores annually by 2022, bringing it to a total of 6,000 stores.

"Customer behaviors are shifting rapidly," shared Kevin Johnson, CEO, Starbucks to The Associated Press. "We must continue to adapt and adapt rapidly to meet our customers where they are,” he added.

Even as it's expanding delivery, Starbucks is continuing to try to improve its in-store experience and is planning to renovate one-third of its US stores this year to add equipment and redo delivery and mobile pickup areas.

The coffee chain is also opening a high-end Reserve Roastery in New York on today. The 23,000-square-foot store includes a bar with coffee- and tea-themed cocktails, Italian pastries and rare small-batch coffees roasted on site.

Tata Starbucks has appointed Navin Gurnaney as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) with effect from January 1, 2019. He will be replacing Sumitro Ghosh.

Ghosh will returns to the US parent company after a three-year stint. 

With this new role, Gurnaney will be responsible for driving Tata Starbucks overall strategic direction and vision in India. He will also work towards strengthening Starbucks business growth.

Gurnaney first joined the company in 2004. He was a leader on US business for eight years in operations and partner resources, based in Atlanta, Georgia.

John Culver, Group President, International, Channel Development and Global Coffee & Tea at Starbucks Coffee Company, said, "We are pleased to welcome Navin Gurnaney, who has a proven track record of success within Starbucks and is a business leader with the ability to bring people together, as Tata Starbucks continues to innovate and position itself for long-term growth in the India market."

Tata Starbucks, a joint venture between Tata Group and Starbucks, started operations in India in October 2012.

Tata Starbucks, a joint venture between the Tata Group and Starbucks, posted its first positive Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) after sales growth nearly doubled during FY17-18.

Tata Global, in its latest annual report said Tata Starbucks, improved sales by 28% in FY 2017-18 with robust in-store performance and new stores added during the year. With the JV posting sales of Rs 272 crore in FY16-17, a back-of-the-envelope calculation shows revenue to be about Rs 348 crore during the last fiscal. “For the first time since inception, the company recorded a positive Ebitda,” the report added.

The growth is nearly double compared to a year ago period when it mostly focussed on profitability and halted aggressive expansion. However, it added nearly 25 stores last financial year.

The JV narrowed net loss marginally to Rs 30 crore during the year to March 2018 compared to Rs 32 crore a year ago. “Various in-store initiatives and the loyalty programme coupled with the ambience provided in stores resulted in improved existing store performance,” the annual report said.

With 116 stores until March, a back-ofthe-envelope calculation shows that each Starbucks outlet sold coffee, snacks and merchandise worth Rs 3 crore. That’s more than rival Coffee Day Enterprises, which runs the country’s top coffee house chain, Cafe Coffee Day, and had retail revenue of Rs 1,590 crore from 1,722 outlets, or about annual sales of Rs 90 lakh per store. Jubilant FoodWorks, which runs Dunkin’ Donuts and Domino’s Pizza in India, clocked Rs 2.6 crore per store.

Starbucks, which started operations in India in October 2012, recorded the fastest store expansion in the company’s 45-year history in the initial few years.

Also, for global coffee chains including Starbucks, consumers are attuned to a takeaway culture, which helps them add margins at very little cost. In India, however, office-goers and students go to cafes to relax and spend hours over coffee and snacks. Real estate costs in India are high, making it important for retailers to realise average price per square foot of space.

Starbucks expanded its partnership with Tata Group beyond India by launching the latter’s single-origin coffee in the US and Himalayan mineral water in Singapore nearly two years ago.

The 50:50 joint venture of Tata Global Beverages (TGBL, formerly Tata Tea) and US-based café chain which is going to open its maiden outlet in Kolkata has opened 96 stores so far in India and would like to take the number over 100 soon. It will open one large-format outlet along with two or more small-format stores in Kolkata by the end of next year.

On the sidelines of 54th AGM of TGBL in the city on Friday, the CEO of Tata Starbucks, Sumitro Ghosh, told TOI: “There is no question of fixing any place in the city for setting up our outlet as the study we are conducting is yet to be over. Once that is done, we will announce the project details.”

However, replying to a TOI query on possible store formats, Ghosh added: “It is a big city. These will be no Starbucks kiosks for sure. One will definitely be a large-format outlet along with two or more small-format stores,” he elaborated.

In a meeting at the iconic Starbucks Reserve® Roastery and Tasting Room in Seattle, Washington, chairman and chief executive officer of Starbucks Coffee Company (NASDAQ: SBUX), Howard Schultz, and chairman, Tata Sons Limited, Cyrus Mistry, announced multiple new joint initiatives last week which expand the existing Tata and Starbucks relationship and strengthenthe companies’ commitment to developing the Tata-Starbucks brand and building a different kind of company in India.

For the first time, Starbucks will offer a single-origin coffee from India in the U.S., giving customers from outside the country a unique opportunity to experience a rare, small-lot coffee from the Tata Nullore Estates located in the beautiful Coorg coffee growing area of India.

“These announcements build upon the incredible success and shared values between Starbucks and Tata in our partnership in India,” said Schultz. “We are humbled by the way in which customers in India have embraced Starbucks elevated coffee house experience, which now spans to more than 80 stores across six cities.”

Starbucks Reserve® Tata Nullore Estates will be the first coffee from India to be roasted at the Starbucks Reserve® Roastery and Tasting Room and will only be available at this Seattle location later this year.

Starbucks also announced plans to increase its coffee roasting capacity for supplying its stores in India and, over time, select markets around the globe.

Since Tata Coffee Limited opened its doors to a roasting and packaging plant in Kushalnagar in Coorg, Karnataka, in 2013, this facility has steadily increased its roasting capabilities. Today, it roasts Starbucks® India Estates Blend and Espresso Roast coffees and will soon expand to include both Kenyan and Sumatran coffees for Starbucks stores throughout India.

This builds uponTata and Starbucks commitment to cultivate a future supply of high-quality, sustainable green coffee from existing and potential sources in India through world-class agronomy practices.

"We are proud to work with Starbucks, a companywhich shares our commitment to both the coffee growing regions and the coffee farmers to ensure we meet the global demand for high-quality coffee over the long-term," said Mistry.“Our journey with Starbucks since 2012 has been gratifying and we are pleased to build on the strong relationship between Starbucks and the Tata group as we continue to further advance Indian coffee around the globe. We are honored to be sourcing the finest Indian coffee and introducing Starbucks customers outside India to its quality for the first time.”

Starbucks also announced it will soon take flight on Vistara, India’s fastest growing full service airline, later this year. Starbucks' fresh brewed coffee service will be exclusively available on all Vistara flights. A joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, Vistara operates more than 457 flights weekly to 17 destinations across India and, in June, celebrated the milestone of flying two million travelers.

Starbucks also plans to expand the availability of Himalayan Mineral Water, bottled by Tata Global Beverages, beyond Starbucks stores in India to Singapore later this year, as the companies explore opportunities to introduce the bottled water brand to stores across Starbucks China and Asia Pacific region.

“Today, we are proud to extend Starbucks partnership with Tata to enrich the lives of Indian youth and enable them to enter and thrive in the 21^st century workforce,” said John Culver, group president, Starbucks Coffee China and Asia Pacific, Channel Development and Emerging Brands. “Our collaboration with Tata underscores our collective commitment to lifelong learning and relevant career skills development. We will continue to make investments to provide pathways to opportunities for young people to realize their personal aspirations and dreams.”

Nusra

In a bid to scale up business operations and further sustain its market leadership, Mumbai based online food curation and delivery service provider Holachef, has appointed Rohit Sharma as its new Chief Supply Chain Officer (CSO).

With over 21 years of rich and diverse hospitality sector experience, Rohit joins Holachef from his previous stint at Tata Starbucks as Director of Supply Chain.

“I am excited to join Holachef and be part of the disruption that is a foot in the traditional food services industry. This clearly means newer challenges as well as immense possibilities for us at Holachef.  Automation and supply chain process efficiency will be critical areas of focus for me. I look forward to working with the extremely passionate team at Holachef as we work towards our mission to be the extended kitchen for consumers across cities.” said Rohit Sharma, Chief Supply Chain Officer, Holachef

His other stints include work with Nirulas Corner House Pvt Ltd, Devyani International Ltd, Domino’s Pizza and Taj Mahal Hotel in various capacities. 

Rohit Sharma’s experience of handling end-to-end supply chain portfolio, building competitive market positioning for several food and hospitality brands is expected to fuel Holachef’s focus towards profitable and sustainable growth. While being the Senior Supply Chain Director at Tata Starbucks, Rohit brought key attributes of strategic and tactical leadership towards growth of the business.

As the new Chief Supply Chain officer, Rohit would be responsible to look after the entire food preparation infrastructure, supply chain automation, sourcing, quality control, food process management and expansion of food categories at Holachef. His charter would also include enhancing revenue growth and cost savings through strategic process improvements, savings initiatives, leveraging unutilized capacities, development of transportation networks among others.

Speaking on the announcement, Co-Founder & CEO Saurabh Saxena said “Rohit has an excellent track record of building successful teams and driving tangible results through streamlining processes,” His experience with multiple high growth organisations and exposure to technological driven supply chain management will be invaluable to Holachef at this juncture of high-speed growth.

Holachef continues to focus on product innovation and critical talent hire in its aspiration to create a food curation category and growth. The company bagged an undisclosed amount of funding from Ratan Tata in August 2015 and earlier also raised a Series A funding of INR 20 Crore in a round led by Kalaari Capital in June 2015.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has rejected product approval applications of Tata Starbucks, Kellogg's and McCain due to lack of sufficient supporting documents for safety assessment was informed by the Rajya Sabha.

34 products of Starbucks have been discarded which included honey vanilla flavored syrup, sea salt and red bean sauce; and two products of Kellogg's including Kellogg's special K Red Berries and Kellogg's special K Oats and Honey have been rejected.

Minister of state for HeFSSAI rejects Tata Starbucks, Kellogg's, McCain productsalth Shripad Naik said, "FSSAI has rejected product approval applications of Tata Starbucks, Kellogg's and McCain due to lack of sufficient supporting documents for safety/risk assessment".

McCain Foods India's only one product is rejected i.e. McCain Battered Pepper and Cheese Bites.

The Minister said that the key duty of FSSAI is to lay down science based food standards, make regulations, regulate imports and undertake coordination with states and UTs on food safety.

The implementation and enforcement of the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act 2006 largely rests with states and Union Territories. Random inspections of premises and sampling of food items are done by officials of the food safety departments of the respective states and UTs to ensure compliance of the FSS Act 2006, Rules and Regulations.

Naik also adds, "In cases where samples are found to be non-compliant, action is taken as per provisions of the FSS Act 2006 by the state authorities or the FSSAI".