Aug 2016 Financial News

Wake up, Starbucks is in town

Aug 30, 2016

TRINIDAD and Tobago became home to yet another international franchise over the weekend, American coffee giant, Starbucks.

Starbucks opened its doors to the public at 6.30 am on Sunday at the South Park Mall in Marabella.

The Starbucks franchise was bought and is exclusively owned by Prestige Holdings Ltd to operate stores in Trinidad and Tobago. Its first store has opened on the same compound with KFC, Pizza Hut, and Subway, international brands also owned by Prestige Holdings Ltd.

At the formal launch on Sunday afternoon, there were brief addresses by Christian Mouttet, Chairman of Prestige Holdings Board of Directors, Charles Pashley, CEO of Prestige Holdings, Debra Benjamin, Starbucks Vice President of Latin America and the Caribbean, Ricardo Rico, Vice President of Starbucks Trinidad and Trade and Industry Minister, Senator Paula Gopee-Scoon.

Starbucks’’s menu offers a wide range of coffees including mochas and cappuccinos as well as iced drinks like the Caramel and Strawberry Frappuccinos.

VP Rico said that Starbucks intends to offer seasonally and culturally styled drinks throughout the year as the company has done in other regions.

In order to show the company’s commitment to making positive contributions to the communities in which they exist, Starbucks distributed donations to the Hope Centre home for children in San Fernando and the Gift of Life Foundation. Benjamin said the company’s employees who are called “partners”, had volunteered time at the Hope Centre and would be required as part of their job description to continue doing so.

To celebrate the occasion, samples from the menu were distributed while attendees enjoyed performances by Skiffle Bunch Steel Orchestra, moko jumbies and other cultural displays.

Prestige Holdings expects to open three more Starbucks stores before the end of the year at MovieTowne Port-of-Spain by the end of October, in Chaguanas, and the third at a yet to be decided location.

Source:
KWAME WEEKES
Newsday
Tuesday August 30, 2016

http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,232571.html