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Showing posts with label Localization. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Localization. Show all posts

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Update on Starbucks in Yunnan

A quick update to my earlier post on the first Starbucks to open in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China is in order.

Today was the grand opening and I stopped by for a look:


As you can see the place was packed and there was a line extending out the door.  Later in the day all was the same.

I received some questions from people curious about cost.  For today's exchange rate some sample prices in US Dollars:
  • Tall Brewed Coffee:  $2.31
  • Venti Brewed Coffee:  $4.15
  • Tall Mocha Frappuccino:  $4.61
  • Tall Green Tea Latte:  $4.61
Prices such as these for drinks are relatively quite high for China, and especially Kunming.  For example, milk tea can be easily found for about $1.25 at other trendy tea and dessert stores nearby -- even that is a relatively high price for Kunming.

The fact that Starbucks is so busy with such high prices is a particularly good sign for them and says much about the customers' desires to purchase Starbucks' products.

Finally, I saw yet another sign of how Starbucks has localized for the Chinese market, or I should say "signs":

Signs in Kunming Starbucks' bathroom

Throwing bathroom tissue into a wastebasket can be common in parts of China where the pipes/sewage system isn't able to cope with it.  The second sign is likely due to squat toilets being very common in the region.  I assume some people may attempt to use seat toilets as squat toilets.

I suppose Starbucks has had some experience regarding these issues (and tissues) in the past.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Starbucks in China: Now in Yunnan

Starbucks rapid growth is hard not to notice in some of the more metropolitan cities in China.  In cities such as Shanghai it is not difficult in some places to find several Starbucks within a 10 minute walk of each other, if not closer.  However, Starbucks has recently begun to focus much of its growth into many cities that are unfamiliar to most people outside of China.

For example, in Kunming in the new shopping complex at the bottom of these buildings:

new high rise buildings in Kunming

Is what on Thursday will be the first Starbucks to open in Yunnan, a province in Southwest China:

outside of new Starbucks in Kunming

They will also be opening two other stores in Kunming during the following month, including one at this location only a few minutes walk away:

under-construction Starbucks store

(extra bonus: take a look at the family of three all on one motor scooter, not a very uncommon sight in China)

Opening stores in Yunnan isn't significant only because of it being far from China's more developed eastern coast, but also because Starbucks late last year announced it would set up a coffee bean farm and processing facilities in Yunnan - significant for a province that doesn't receive the level of investment from foreign companies seen in many other provinces.

Although the first store wasn't yet open, staff were outside serving free samples of a caramel latte drink -- what for many was their first taste of Starbucks:

several Chinese people being offered sample drinks

I was invited inside to take look around the store while they were putting on the finishing touches and starting to clean up:

inside of Starbucks store

While much of the style is Western, there are certainly some local touches to highlight Starbucks' special association with Yunnan:

photos of local regions in Yunnan and a map of Yunnan

Although the drink menu has many similarities with those found in the US, there are some differences.  For example, similar to Dairy Queen localizing its Chinese menu with mango drinks, Starbucks also has a mango drink not typically found in US stores: the Mango Passion Fruit Frappucino.  I was told that Yunnan grown coffee would not be on the drink menu, but come September customers would be able to buy Starbucks Yunnan coffee beans in packages.

Starbucks was still looking for new employees in Kunming, including these two who were applying when I stopped by:

two girls filling out application forms

However, Starbucks wasn't taking any risks and had brought in several experienced employees from its other stores in China, as far away as Xian and Beijing, to help for a month or two, including these two Coffee Masters:

A young man who is a Coffee Master

another young man who is a Coffee Master

Starbucks' employees are expect to maintain a quality and style of service similar to Starbucks' stores in the US.  While rapidly changing, service "attitudes" in much of China are different from the US so some hands on training by experienced staff is particularly important.

Based on my experience today, it seems like Starbucks has brought in a very friendly and open group to help kickoff their new store, especially my "guide" for my brief tour who used the familiar English name "Mickey":

young lady who works at Starbucks

Finally, it appears that Starbucks isn't similar to Dairy Queen only in its decision to add mango drinks to the menu, but it also faces competition similar to that faced by Dairy Queen from Mango Queen and DU.  In another part of Kunming is:

outside of Teabucks store
Teabucks Tea Store

Yes, Teabucks.

Welcome to Kunming, Starbucks.

[UPDATE: See details about the grand opening of this Starbucks here]

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Prague Cafe, Kunming: The Drink of Choice

In yesterday's post about how "humility" and "disgrace" play an important role in China I mentioned one of the many places in China that felt far away from issues of censorship, detainment or any of the other negatives of China -- the Prague Cafe in Kunming, Yunnan:

Outside of the Prague Cafe in Kunming

However, while in many ways the cafe is a sign of progress for China there was one clear indication that progress takes time -- at least in the eyes of those of us with particular tastes in beer (see here).  Despite offering a couple of different options for Czech beer, the beer of choice by the Chinese customers there was this:

Dali Beer

The customers at the Prague Cafe were drinking a local brew -- Dali Beer.  I've had it before, in Dali in fact, and it's a mid-range quality Chinese beer (however, like for many things in China the boundaries can be fuzzy).  This may be another example of localized tastes.  More likely, though, it was related to another important issue - cost.  Many of the customers were college students and the Czech beer was significantly more expensive.

At least the customers have the choice to someday discover a wonderful Czech beer.  If they're really lucky, they'll even get to try some Czech inspired bia hoi in Vietnam some day and learn the ins and outs of how not to be tricked when trying to find some.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Copying & Localization: Dairy Queen, Mango Queen, and TCBY

Previously, I shared that not only was Dairy Queen facing an ice cream competitor with the curiously similar name DU, but also facing potential competition from Mango Queen.

Now I'll share that Dairy Queen may have decided that Mango Queen and/or others like it were on to something.  Inside a Dairy Queen in Kunming, Yunnan I saw this sign:

Dairy Queen menu sign showing mango selections

As seen in the center, Dairy Queen now offers two different mango drinks/smoothies.  Given typical tastes for desserts in China, this seems like a reasonable localized offering.  Dairy Queen might not have any competition from Mango Queen in Kunming but mango drinks & desserts are popular at many places.

But even if Dairy Queen corners the mango drink/smoothie market in Kunming, they may still have to worry about some other competition down the street:

TCBY store

Yes, it's TCBY.  I've spotted them in other cities in China as well, however they appear to be fewer in number than Dairy Queen.  In the area seen above I saw at least 4-5 Dairy Queens and 2 TCBY's within a 20 minute walking distance.  Even with that density, I saw one Dairy Queen with a line of customers stretching outside.

As evidenced by the milk tea at TCBY, a popular drink in China, it is clear they've adjusted their menu as well.  All of this goes to show how many American food & beverage companies are localizing their menus in China -- an important thing since Chinese tastes and expectations are different from American's.  I am happy to say, though, that while tastes may differ there is clear evidence that many Chinese share a preference with American's for a key item -- Oreo Blizzards remain a staple in Chinese DQ's.

The various "shared ideas" of Dairy Queen, Mango Queen, TCBY and other dessert places also highlights that the line between inspiration and copying can sometimes be fuzzy.  I'm not equating all such acts and defending plagiarism, copyright infringement, etc., but simply pointing out that there sometimes can be murkiness in these issues -- even from a purely Western perspective.

The issues of copying and localization play important roles for foreign companies doing business in China.  Copyright and trademark issues can be major problems, but to some degree many foreign companies will benefit from their own form of copying, whatever you want to call it, so they can best adapt to the local market.