Alsea, a Mexican restaurant company focused in fast-food stores and restaurants, and casual dining restaurants in Latin America, mulls to invest $110m in the next three years in 220 new Starbucks cafes in Mexico and Argentina.
Besides Starbucks' franchises, Alsea also operates Domino's Pizza and Burger King chains in Mexico.
The company told Reuters that almost three quarters of the investment will be on 170 new stores in Mexico, with the remaining going to Argentina.
Starbucks chief executive Howard Schultz said at a news conference that Alsea has set up 376 Starbucks cafes over the past decade and is adding over 50 new ones each year.
Even though fresh coffee consumption is growing faster in Mexico, instant coffee is still the country's main brew.
According to Starbucks top executive in Mexico Federico Tejado, the Seattle-based coffee chain plans to launch its Via brand of instant coffee in Mexico, reported the news agency.
