Tata Starbucks expansion plan: 40-100 new stores FY26

What Tata Consumer told shareholders

Tata Consumer Products Ltd (TCPL) chairman N Chandrasekaran said the company plans to keep adding Starbucks stores in India at the pace of 50 to 100 outlets a year. He made the comments while addressing shareholders at the company’s 63rd annual general meeting. Chandrasekaran described Starbucks as a “high potential” business for the group in India. He also said TCPL has held discussions with its joint venture partner on the long-term opportunity. According to him, the partnership believes the India business could eventually scale to 8,000 stores. The message to shareholders was that store growth will continue, but with a sharper focus on profitability and margins.

The joint venture structure and current footprint

Tata Starbucks is a 50:50 joint venture between Tata Consumer Products and Starbucks Corporation. The venture launched in India in 2012. Chandrasekaran said Tata Starbucks currently has a network of 502 stores. The AGM commentary also pointed to execution at scale, with management linking expansion to improving unit economics. The company’s near-term plan is to keep opening stores, while gradually improving profitability as the base grows. The India Starbucks business has been expanding across multiple markets, with a wider push beyond early metro-heavy concentration reflected in the broader references to city count in company updates.

Profitability update: EBITDA and EBIT turned positive

Chandrasekaran told shareholders that the Starbucks business turned both EBITDA and EBIT positive in the current year. He positioned this as an important milestone for the joint venture as it moves from scale-building to margin improvement. He said the next step is to improve margins as the store base expands further. The thrust of the message was that profitability is now part of the expansion agenda, not a goal deferred indefinitely. While the AGM remarks did not provide a specific margin number, the focus was on better store performance alongside continued openings.

FY26 store addition guidance: 50-100 vs 40-50

Alongside the chairman’s guidance of 50 to 100 stores a year, a separate set of comments attributed to TCPL MD and CEO Sunil D’Souza indicated a slower pace for FY26. D’Souza said the company expects a net addition of about 40 to 50 stores in FY26. He also indicated that the total store count could be in the range of 515 to 520 by the end of FY26. The explanation provided for a more measured pace was the need for “realistic” targets and better store performance. He also linked the moderation to demand and macroeconomic conditions, indicating that the earlier 1,000-store plan by FY28 would not happen on the original schedule.

The 1,000-store milestone and recalibration

TCPL had earlier outlined plans to reach the 1,000-store milestone by 2028. D’Souza later said the 1,000-stores-by-FY28 ambition was unlikely, and that the board would need to sit down with Starbucks Corporation to agree on a recalibrated expansion plan. He said the company had applied the brakes in the last three quarters to avoid getting “ahead of demand.” He also cited limited availability of quality retail space in India as a practical constraint on rapid scaling. At the same time, he said improving same-store sales growth could allow the company to ramp up openings again when conditions are supportive.

Long-term ambition: 8,000 stores in India

The most ambitious number in the disclosures came from Chandrasekaran’s AGM remarks, where he said discussions with the partner suggest the venture could eventually have 8,000 stores in India. The statement signals confidence about the size of the premium cafe opportunity over the long term. But the same set of updates also shows the company balancing aspiration with near-term calibration. Near-term store opening guidance and the 2028 milestone discussions suggest TCPL and Starbucks are prioritising sustainable rollout and profitability levers while keeping long-term optionality open.

Key facts at a glance

Financial context disclosed in reports

The provided information also included financial figures attributed to the Starbucks India business in some reports. Revenue was cited at ₹1,218 crore in FY24, compared with ₹1,087 crore in FY23. Another cited update said the venture moved from an ₹81 crore loss to a ₹5 crore net profit in FY24. Separately, another figure in the text said losses widened to ₹79.97 crore in FY24 due to expansion. These figures point to mixed reporting across different updates included in the material, but they consistently underline the core challenge management is highlighting: balancing store rollout with near-term profitability.

Market impact: what investors will track

For TCPL investors, the near-term focus is likely to be on three measurable items: pace of store additions, improvement in operating metrics, and clarity on the revised path to the earlier 1,000-store milestone. The chairman’s message emphasised the potential scale of Starbucks in India, while the CEO’s commentary pointed to near-term moderation to protect store performance. The FY26 exit range of 515 to 520 stores, if achieved, would place the venture on a steady but not aggressive run-rate. Investors will also watch for updates on unit economics now that management says the business is EBITDA and EBIT positive. Any formal reset of the FY28 target, if announced after discussions with Starbucks Corporation, could shape expectations on capital allocation and growth cadence.

Analysis: why the shift in tone matters

The combined set of statements shows a shift from purely scale-led narratives to a more operationally grounded approach. Chandrasekaran’s 50 to 100 stores a year guidance sets a broad expansion range, but the FY26 target of 40 to 50 net new stores suggests tighter filtering of locations. The rationale cited in the material is straightforward: demand visibility, macro conditions, and the availability of quality retail space. The emphasis on margin improvement after turning EBITDA and EBIT positive also suggests the venture is positioning for a phase where profitability is expected to improve alongside growth. At the same time, the long-term 8,000-store potential remark indicates the partners still see India as a large runway, even if intermediate milestones are being recalibrated.

Conclusion

Tata Consumer’s leadership has reiterated commitment to expanding Starbucks in India, while signalling a more measured store rollout in FY26 to protect performance and margins. The next key update will be any formal recalibration of the earlier 1,000-store-by-2028 plan after discussions with Starbucks Corporation.