Guyana will welcome its first Starbucks later this month at the Amazonia Mall as part of the coffee giant’s efforts to open an additional 120 stores across the rapidly growing Latin America and Caribbean market.

Guyana is Starbucks’s 23rd market in the region and 85th globally for the business, which has 36,100 stores as of January 1. The 2,475-square-foot, drive-through store will support more than 50 local jobs and will feature artwork from Guyanese artist Nigel Butler. The space has been designed for on-the-go customers as it also features a walk-up window.

The business will be operated by Trinidadian restaurant management company Prestige Holdings Limited (PHL), which received the licence to operate in the South American country. PHL (Guyana) Inc was incorporated on February 17, 2022 to manage future restaurants in Guyana. Shares in PHL (Guyana) were to be issued at a later date as per the 2022 audited financial notes with the first-quarter report ending February 28 indicating that the business hasn’t started operations as yet.

“Together with our local Guyanese green apron partners, we are excited to introduce the Starbucks brand in Guyana. It will bring a new coffee shop experience to customers within the region, as well as positively impacting the Guyanese community by providing employment opportunities and boosting the local economy,” said Prestige Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Simon Hardy in the Starbucks release.

Trinidad’s first Starbucks opened in August 2016 as Starbucks’ 74th market, with the company’s latest annual report noting that there were 12 locations with the latest location being a 24-hour location at the Piarco International Airport. In PHL’s first quarter (November to February), it opened two new locations at Brentwood and Aranguez with another location opened last month in O’Meara. PHL was targeting five new restaurant locations for its 2023 financial year (FY).

Starbucks has been growing very rapidly in the Latin America and Caribbean region with the company’s 1,500th store opened on June 21 in Antigua Guatemala, and 1,600th store opened on March 7 in Punta Cana, the Dominican Republic. The drive-thru store at Bluemall Puntacana was the sixth store in the country operated by Green Star Partners. It also resulted in 18 new hires on top of the existing 100 team members in the Spanish-speaking country. Starbucks noted that the region had over 22,000 green apron partners in the region as of last month.

The English-speaking Caribbean has seen a rapid expansion in the Starbucks’ footprint thanks to its licensee Caribbean Coffee Traders Limited which has Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos, Panama and Barbados under its operations. The business is a joint venture between Ian Dear, CEO of the Margaritaville Group, and Adam Stewart, who is the executive chairman of Sandals Resorts International. It is operated by Managing Director Joey Epstein.

Jamaica saw its 12th location at Mall Plaza, St Andrew, in November and should expect additional locations on Red Hills Road and in Portmore in short order. This is on top of the short-term goal of 15 stores and 25 in the long term.

“Since entering the region in 2002, Latin America and the Caribbean has been integral to Starbucks business and continues to be key to our international growth. Our market entry into Guyana allows us to bring the Starbucks experience focused on connection and personalised moments to even more customers,” said Michael Conway, Starbucks group president, International and Channel Development.

Starbucks plans to have these new stores under its Greener Stores framework, which covers eight pillars and an ambitious 2030 target of 50 per cent reduction in carbon emissions, 50 per cent reduction in water used in global operations, and 50 per cent reduction in waste sent to landfills. This is on top of the plan to use local artists in its coffee-inspired café designs while pushing for more drive-through locations.