Alsea bolsters Starbucks presence in Latin America and Europe

Alsea increased its presence in 11 of its 12 markets globally, including 37 net new stores in Mexico | Photo credit: Alsea

Alsea has reported strong 2023 outlet expansion, sales growth and progress on sustainable stores for its sizable Starbucks franchise business. 
 

The quick-service hospitality group, which also counts licensed Domino’s Pizza, Burger King and VIPS stores among its foodservice portfolio, posted 10.7% year-on-year group sales growth to ₱74.6bn ($4.4bn).  

Total net income increased 50% to ₱2.6bn ($154m) in the 12 months ending 31 December 2023. 

Alsea opened 116 net new Starbucks stores last year, including 50 in its last quarter, to reach 1,777 outlets across 12 markets. The Mexico City-based franchise group opened the first Starbucks store in Paraguay in April 2023 – the US coffee chain’s 86th market globally. 

The group also increased its presence in 11 of its 12 markets globally, including 37 net new stores in Mexico, its largest market with 820 outlets. 

In April 2023, Alsea announced plans to open 300 new stores across Europe by 2028. The business opened 48 net new sites in Europe last year, including 27 in France, 14 in Spain, four in the Netherlands, two in Portugal and a single site in Belgium. The business also operates four stores in Luxembourg. 
 

Alsea also reported double-digit like-for-like sales growth for Starbucks in five markets in 2023 – 26% in Mexico, 21% in Portugal, 18% in Spain, 17% in the Netherlands and 12% in Chile.  

Additionally, the franchise group certified 85 Starbucks outlets as lower-impact Greener Stores in Latin America. In March 2023, Starbucks outlined a goal for all new stores in Latin America and the Caribbean to be built under the Greener Stores framework by the end of 2023. 

“At Starbucks we continue to open formats that allow us to improve profitability, with a focus on strategic locations, combined with the development of innovative products that are attractive to the customer,” said Armando Torrado, CEO, Alsea. 

Alsea entered a franchise agreement with Starbucks in 2002 and opened its first coffee shop in Mexico City later the same year. Starbucks is the group’s largest franchise, ahead of Domino’s Pizza and Burger King, with 1,441 stores and 425 sites respectively.