INTERNATIONAL COFFEE shop chain Starbucks is to open its first shop in Portugal on Tuesday in the Centro Comercial Alegro, Lisbon.
The company, which was founded in 1971 and has more than 14,500 shops worldwide, hopes to forge a niche in the already saturated coffee shop market in Portugal by aiming their product at the VIP market.
Coffee culture
President of Starbucks international, Martin Cole, said: “Starbucks offers the best coffee in the world to their customers. We know that Portugal has a very strong culture and tradition of drinking coffee and we are pleased to offer the Starbucks experience in Portugal.”
The stores modify the products they sell in each country to reflect national tastes and trends. Portuguese cakes such as pasteis de nata and pasteis de feijão will be on sale at the coffee shops and coffee drinkers will be offered Starbucks coffee in conjunction with the sale of national brands of tea and coffee.
This all-American shop will be selling 16 types of coffee available to drink in thousands of different ways, think skinny vanilla lattes and tall house blend decafs.
Another Starbucks is scheduled to open in Bélém, although an exact opening date has not been revealed.
This shop is expected to be a true reflection of the Starbucks brand in Portugal and a flagship for the companies presence in Portugal.
A further two Starbucks shops are due to open in the Lisbon area before the end of the year.
