Is Mexico becoming a fresh headache for Alsea’s Starbucks business?

Mexico has long been the cornerstone of Starbucks’ growth strategy in Latin America and often serves as a pilot market to test innovations, store formats and product launches ahead of wider regional rollouts. Its latest quarterly results could be cause for concern

More than two years since Starbucks boycotts in France and the Benelux region began negatively impacting Alsea’s trading in Europe, new earnings for the Mexico City-based franchise group indicate that current concerns lie much closer to home.

Alsea is Starbucks’ second-largest franchise partner globally after Kuwait-based Alshaya Group, with 1,964 licensed coffee shops across 12 markets in Latin America and Europe.

Nearly half of that footprint is in Mexico – Starbucks’ seventh-largest market globally with 951 stores, all operated by Alsea.