VOA标准英语2013--Despite Slow Start, Starbucks Expands in India

 

Despite Slow Start, Starbucks Expands in India

The Starbucks outlet¹ in New Delhi’s Connaught Place has been open for more than a month and still draws long lines and interest from young people like Vikram Maour, who until now had only seen the coffee chain on television.

“I think it’s great to have Starbucks in India," said Maour. "We just heard about Starbucks in foreign countries, but to have Starbucks in India, it’s a really good thing.”

Starbucks opened its first store in India in October of 2012, through a joint² venture with India’s Tata Global Beverages⁴. The U.S.-based coffee chain had planned to open 50 outlets⁵ in the country by the end of last year, but so far has a total of nine stores in the cities of Mumbai and New Delhi.

Starbucks officials say despite the delay, the coffee giant wants to eventually make India one of its top five global markets.

Tata Starbucks CEO Avani Davda says India is a complex market for foreign investors⁶, both socially and economically, but that it carries tremendous potential.

“It comes with it’s own set of issues, in terms of how fast the government can move on the reform side," said Davda. "But, I think still, the fundamental business potential is there and if you are a group like Tata or Starbucks, who conducts business in a certain way and understands the potential of the market, I think there is huge opportunity over here.”

That potential can be seen in India’s 300 million-strong rising middle class and a younger population that is increasingly espousing⁷ Western tastes. Starbucks has deliberately⁸ kept prices lower compared to its pricing in neighboring China, in an effort to make the brand more accessible.

But the brand still must convince customers in the traditionally tea-drinking country to spend $2 on a cappuccino - instead of 20 cents on a hot chai.

“Younger people, they are open to experimentation," she said. "They are not just hung up on or tea or a particular beverage³. Yes, it has been a dairy and a tea market for a long time, but I think people want new experiences and their out-of-home consumption habits are different.”

With India’s coffee consumption increasing 80 percent in the last decade and India's coffee market expected to top $500 million in the next few years, Starbucks officials say they are confident the company’s investment will pay off. 

1 outlet   

n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄

参考例句：

• The outlet of a water pipe was blocked.水管的出水口堵住了。
• Running is a good outlet for his energy.跑步是他发泄过剩精力的好方法。

2 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

3 beverage   

n.(水，酒等之外的)饮料

参考例句：

• The beverage is often colored with caramel.这种饮料常用焦糖染色。
• Beer is a beverage of the remotest time.啤酒是一种最古老的饮料。

4 beverages   

n.饮料( beverage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• laws governing the sale of alcoholic beverages 控制酒类销售的法规
• regulations governing the sale of alcoholic beverages 含酒精饮料的销售管理条例

5 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

7 espousing   

v.（决定）支持，拥护（目标、主张等）( espouse的现在分词 )

参考例句：

8 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。