Starbucks, the global coffee chain, will look at acquisition opportunities, introducing healthier options and opening its first stores in India and Vietnam in the next 24 months.

Speaking at the 12th European Foodservice Summit, chairman, president and chief executive Howard Schultz said that acquisition opportunities “would be looked at” and that the company had “$2bn in cash and no debt” at present.
 
Schultz also said that the company, which has around 11,000 outlets in the US and Canada, and 6,000 internationally, would look at expanding into India and Vietnam “in the next year or so”.
 
He said the company was also looking at the “health/wellness” category and that, in terms of introducing healthier options, it had “licence to play in that area”.
 
A number of the group’s US stores have been trialling serving beer and wines and Schultz said that the early feedback on this was “intriguing”, but that the experiment was still at an early stage.