Alsea optimistic for recovery of licensed Starbucks business in Europe

Starbucks opened its first store in France (pictured) in 2004 | Photo credit: Starbucks

Mexico City-based Alsea has indicated its licensed Starbucks business in Europe is recovering after a difficult 12 months of trading. 
 

The Mexican quick-service hospitality group currently operates 1,906 franchised Starbucks outlets across 12 markets in Latin America and Europe alongside several fast-food and full-service restaurant brands.  

Alsea reported a 9% year-on-year sales decline for Starbucks in Europe during the 12 months ended 31 December 2024, which it attributed to customer boycotts of US brands relating to the Israel-Gaza conflict, particularly during the second and third quarters. 
 

However, Alsea posted 7.4% year-on-year like-for-like sales growth for Starbucks in Europe during the fourth quarter as customer footfall began to recover.  

“In Europe, particularly in France, the Starbucks brand has shown a significant recovery of traffic lost during the year due to the boycott of North American brands; we are confident that store traffic will continue to recover throughout 2025,” Alsea CEO Armando Torrado said during an earnings call. 

Fellow licensed Starbucks operators Alshaya Group and Berjaya Food, which operate the US coffee chain in the Middle East and Malaysia respectively, also reported a recovery in consumer sentiment as boycotts subsided during the final three months of 2024. 

Despite posting an annual sales decline for its licensed Starbucks business in Europe, Alsea still managed to open 132 net new coffee shops globally last year.  

The quick-service hospitality group added 39 net new Starbucks stores in Europe last year, including 19 net new sites in France and 16 in Spain – Alsea’s largest European markets with 264 and 182 outlets respectively. The Netherlands was Alsea’s only Starbucks market to contract in 2024, closing two stores to operate 99 sites. 

In Mexico, Alsea’s largest Starbucks market with 892 outlets, the coffee chain achieved 6% year-on-year like-for-like sales growth, slowing to 3% in the fourth quarter, and opened 72 net new stores. 

Like-for-like annual sales increased 26% year-on-year in South America and 30% in the fourth quarter, driven by expansion in Chile, Colombia and Argentina – where Alsea operates 378 licensed Starbucks stores. 

Alsea’s total net sales increased 6.3% to reach MX$77.8bn ($3.8bn) in 2024. Starbucks is the group’s largest licensed brand ahead of fast-food chain Domino’s Pizza and fast-casual operator Vips, with 1,526 and 404 stores respectively. 

Alsea also confirmed that CEO Torrado will step down as CEO at the end of June 2025 to be succeeded by Christian Gurría Dubernard, who joined the franchise group in 2021 and has twice served as Director of Starbucks Mexico. He currently serves as the group’s Director of Starbucks in France and the Benelux region – a position he has held since February 2019.