How much South Africans are willing to pay for Starbucks?

Taste Holdings announced on Thursday that South Africa’s first Starbucks coffee chain will be opening at the end of April in Rosebank, Gauteng.

A second branch will open around the same time at the Mall of Africa in Midrand.

The global brand’s entry into the market has South African coffee consumers divided, with the excitement of such a big brand operating in the country being quelled by concerns over quality and price.

BrandEye tracked and analysed consumer sentiments towards Starbucks and other local coffee brands on social media, to gauge what South Africans expect.

The group found that Starbucks’ entry into South Africa increased conversation not only about the US brand, but local brands as well.

Read: When and where Starbucks will officially launch in South Africa

And while a lot of consumers – especially consumers of artisanal brands of coffee – are less excited, and unwilling to pay premium fees for Starbucks, many rejoice the brand’s equity, and wouldn’t mind “splurging” out for its novelty blends.

Who loves and hates Starbucks

According to the report, overall sentiment towards Starbucks in the country is more positive than it is negative. The only place where this isn’t true is Cape Town, where 33% of consumers expressed negative sentiment towards the brand, versus 26% who were positive.

Durban is the most positive towards Starbucks (43% positive vs 17% negative), while Gauteng is in the middle – but also more positive (33% vs 18% negative).

DataEQ suggests that Durban would be the next most logical city for Stabucks to head to, after Joburg, as Cape Town would prove to be a resistant market.

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