FOOD giant Nestle on Thursday started selling Starbucks-branded coffee in China, seeking to tap growth in a market where it says coffee consumption per capita remains low compared with global standards.

Nestle last year paid US$7.15 billion for exclusive rights to sell the U.S. chain’s coffees and teas globally, and began selling Starbucks-labelled products in Europe, Asia and Latin America in February.

The world’s largest food company will start selling 21 Starbucks-branded capsule and instant coffee products on Chinese e-commerce platforms like Alibaba’s Tmall and JD.com, as well as to offices and hotels in tier-1 cities, both companies said.

“We believe China is the most exciting market in general but especially for coffee because... per capita cup consumption is quite low as compared with Asia,” said Rashid Aleem Qureshi, Nestle’s chief executive officer for the greater China region.

“Right now, the overall soluble coffee in China is growing between 3-5 percent a year and we believe that by bringing this exciting new business opportunity we should be able to grow faster than that,” he said, referring to a category that includes capsule and instant coffee.

Nestle’s move comes as it experienced a slower first-half growth in China. (SD-Agencies)