OREANDA-NEWS. Specially sourced, roasted, packaged and sold in India, India Estates Blend honours the country's long-standing coffee Tata Starbucks, the 50/50 joint venture between Starbucks Coffee Company (Nasdaq: SBUX) and Tata Global Beverages, is celebrating its first anniversary in the Indian market. To celebrate its India journey, the company has created a special India-sourced coffee, aptly named India Estates Blend, as a tribute to its customers, partners, coffee producers and roasters.

“We are delighted to celebrate our one-year anniversary in India and introduce for the first time a whole bean coffee that is sourced, roasted, packaged and sold in India,” said John Culver, group president, Starbucks China and Asia Pacific, channel development and emerging brands. “We have a long-term commitment to work closely with the coffee-growing communities where we do business and elevate the awareness of high-quality Arabica coffee in India. This is a proud moment for our partners as we honour India's long-standing coffee heritage and commemorate this historic milestone in the early days of our India journey.”

Speaking on the occasion, Avani Davda, CEO, Tata Starbucks, said, “Since launching the first store in India in October 2012, we are incredibly humbled by the warm way in which our customers in India have made the Starbucks Experience a part of their lives. We are also grateful for the passion our partners (employees) demonstrate about our coffee and our stores, and the instrumental role they play in delivering the unique Starbucks Experience to our customers, every day with every cup. As a tribute to our customers, partners and the coffee growers and roasters here in India, we are very proud to launch India Estates Blend, which has been developed thoughtfully along with Tata Coffee, specifically for the Indian market.”

Created to celebrate the India journey, India Estates Blend captures the essence and rich heritage of the Indian coffee history and draws inspiration from the finest Arabica beans which have been carefully selected from Tata Coffee's estates spread across Coorg and Chickmagalur, the birth place of coffee in India. It is a perfect example of the strong synergy between Starbucks and Tata Coffee, and their commitment to develop and improve the profile of Indian-grown Arabica coffees. This country-specific blend creates a fine balance between herbal and chocolate notes, perfect for sharing with friends and neighbours. The blend has been named to represent the origin of the coffee and the packaging has been carefully created to reflect the nuances of traditional Indian designs.

Starbucks also opened its second store in Pune, taking the total store count to 25, across Mumbai, Delhi NCR and Pune. The company is also introducing India to the global favourite, Salted Caramel Mocha. Perfect for cooler days, this rich and creamy handcrafted beverage celebrates the goodness of salty and sweet, and will be available for customers in India starting October 25, 2013.

Starbucks® entered the Indian market in October 2012 and currently operates 25 stores in India across Mumbai, Delhi NCR and Pune. Starbucks® stores are operated by the joint venture, Tata Starbucks, and branded as Starbucks Coffee - “A Tata Alliance”.