Durban coffee lovers are in for a great treat this summer as the popular franchise Starbucks will open its doors in the city this November.
The hub of activity for tourists, locals and all those who like to party, Florida Road, will get the honours of having the first stand-alone Starbucks shop in the city opening on November 25, followed by popular shopping destination, Gateway Theatre of Shopping on 28 November.
Durban is the third location in the Starbucks store rollout, following Johannesburg and Pretoria.
Chief Executive Officer of Taste Holdings, Carlo Gonzaga said the reason why they have opened two stores in Durban is because of the various factors they consider when choosing locations.
“Starbucks provides consumers with the ultimate ‘third place’- a place for human connections. As such, we require ample space to facilitate this brand promise. As we are new in the market, we certainly also look at spaces that will allow the brand visibility and provide enough football to sustain our business," he said.
According to Gonzaga, both stores will offer the full Starbucks range, including its 100% Arabica coffee, the Teavana iced teas, the Starbucks reserve bar, which is small-lot coffees sourced from around the world and brewed through a variety of brewing methods, including Siphon, Pour-Over, Black Eagle, and the Clover machine.
“We have Limited Time Offers throughout the year like the Pumpkin Spice Latte and the cold beverage the Pumpkin Spice Frappucino. All our stores offer the Starbucks core menu and for the coffee connoisseur, certain stores like Florida Road offer an intimate coffee theatre experience through the Reserve Bar."
Although the popular Pumpkin Spice Campaign comes to an end before Starbucks launches in Durban, fear not. "We are making plans to give our Durban customers the opportunity to taste our renowned Pumpkin Spice for the first few weeks of our opening."
And summer's big coffee trend, cold brew? It has been added to their line-up of iced and cold coffee beverages.
" Cold brew is a beverage platform that has done extremely well globally and we are very proud to be bringing the platform to South Africa early next year. This would include a new exciting brewing method,” said Gonzaga.
For first time coffee takers Gonzaga said people can start with a hand-crafted Cappuccino or Flat White- a perfect blend of Espresso and steamed milk and for something cooler, you can try an iced Caramel Macchiato.