Xinhua Finance Shanghai, October 31 (Reporter Xu Xiaoqing) - On October 31, Beijing time, Starbucks released its Q4 2024 financial report and annual report (as of September 29, 2024), showing a long-term steady growth trend in its business expansion in the mainland Chinese market. Data shows that in the fourth quarter of this fiscal year, Starbucks added a net of 290 new stores in mainland China and entered 78 county-level markets, maintaining a month on month increase in operating profit and profit margin.
This also means that by the end of this fiscal quarter, Starbucks will have a total of 7596 stores in mainland China, covering nearly 1000 county-level markets. At the same time, for the entire 2024 fiscal year, based on the annual store expansion plan, Starbucks China added 790 new stores, a year-on-year increase of 12%, setting a new historical high. This fiscal year, Starbucks has entered 166 county-level markets in mainland China, setting a new historical high, with nearly double the number of new markets entered in the previous fiscal year.
In recent years, county-level markets have become the "blue ocean" for coffee in store consumption in China. There are over 2800 county-level administrative regions in mainland China, and Starbucks has expanded its business in nearly 1000 county-level markets, demonstrating its confidence in the sustainable development of the Chinese coffee market, "analyzed food industry analyst Zhu Danpeng.
Similar to other fast-moving consumer goods industries, since the second half of 2024, the Chinese coffee market has undergone various changes and frequent promotions, resulting in significant pressure on the entire industry. Starbucks China CEO Liu Wenjuan said, "Our business development is strong and resilient, with key business data such as net income, store transaction volume, operating profit, and operating profit margin all achieving month on month increases." She also emphasized that Starbucks China will continue to steadily implement its long-term development commitments.
In this latest financial quarter, Starbucks opened stores in Pingdingshan, Henan and Jiuquan, Gansu. Data shows that half of the newly added stores are located in third - and fourth tier cities in mainland China. Not long ago, in Pu'er, Yunnan, Starbucks held the latest Yunnan Green Bean Excellent Supplier Conference, bringing together more than 1500 coffee farmers from Yunnan production areas.
It is reported that 2024 marks the 12th year that Starbucks has established its first Asia Pacific coffee grower support center in Yunnan, China. On October 19th, Starbucks announced that every Starbucks store in mainland China will sell Yunnan single origin coffee beans in the future. We have witnessed a great leap in Yunnan coffee production and quality. In the future, Starbucks will continue to adhere to its original intention and continue to promote the progress and development of China's coffee industry, "said Liu Wenjuan.