(Moscow) “No difference so far”: after the withdrawal of the American chain of coffee Starbucks from Russia, in reaction to the offensive in Ukraine, a first Russian “Stars Coffee” opened its doors on Friday in Moscow.
Posted yesterday at 6:34
“Why STARS? Because the new brand brings together the stars of the gastronomy industry”, explain in a press release the Russian rapper Timati and the restaurateur Anton Pinski who acquired the 130 Starbucks restaurants on Russian territory at the end of July.
Rather than a revolution, they intend to preserve the recipe that made the success of the American chain, between the baristas writing the names of the customers on the cups and the “lattes” and other customizable “frappuccinos”.
Even the logo is almost identical: brown has been added to the traditional colors of the American chain – green and white – and the little mermaid has been replaced by a girl in a “kokoshnik”, the traditional Russian headdress.
PHOTO MAXIM SHEMETOV, REUTERS
But Stars Coffee assures us: the syrups for the coffee will now be made locally and the menu of dishes and desserts will be completely redesigned by new chefs to offer “better than ever” quality.
Unlike the Russian McDonald’s (“Vkousno i totchka”) launched in June with great fanfare, Stars Coffee did not make a big publicity campaign for the opening of its first restaurant on Novy Arbat street, in the center of the Russian capital.
A modest official ceremony took place on Thursday evening for a few celebrities and a handful of journalists, with the general public being invited from Friday.
Arina, a 20-year-old student coming out of the café with a cup in her hand, told AFP that she doesn’t see any “differences so far: the taste is the same anyway, the inside and everything else are the same “.
The coffee is “different,” however, finds Anton, a 35-year-old restaurant worker. “Different, but good,” he adds.
Ekaterina, another 25-year-old customer, is more circumspect: “I miss Starbucks, because I have a collection of cups and tumblers. This cafe might also offer something good, but hard to know for now.”
Exodus
All of the chain’s cafes are due to open in Russia by the end of September, according to the owners.
About 80% of the approximately 2,000 employees who worked for Starbucks have agreed to stay with the new chain, according to the same source.
PHOTO MAXIM SHEMETOV, REUTERS
Starbucks, which had temporarily closed the 130 establishments bearing its name in Russia after the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine on February 24, announced at the end of May that it had made the decision to definitively leave its soil.
The American chain had opened its first cafe there in 2007 and operated there through a partner, a Kuwaiti group that owned and managed the licensed establishments.
After February 24 and the introduction of economic sanctions, many large Western companies and brands left Russia, for ethical reasons or difficulties in doing business there.
After more than 30 years of presence in this country and with approximately 850 restaurants and 62,000 employees, McDonald’s thus announced in mid-May its final departure and sold its local activities, but not the brand name, to a businessman. Russian.