Frappuccinos all 'round

Starbucks, the operator of one of the largest chains of coffee shops worldwide, has signed a letter of intent with AmRest Holding, the company that runs Pizza Hut and KFC restaurants in Central Europe. The deal could lead to Starbucks having a presence in Poland.

In a statement, AmRest announced that the company had signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Starbucks Coffee EMEA B.V. This initial agreement concerns potential cooperation with regards to opening and operating Starbucks cafés through a joint venture between AmRest and Starbucks.

When asked about a possible timetable for the negotiation process with Starbucks, Mateusz Sielecki, an investor-relations and business-intelligence manager with AmRest, said that talks concerning the introduction of a new brand is always a matter of months rather than weeks.

Though most coffee-shop chains in Poland are expanding, market saturation is still low compared to more developed markets. Małgorzata Machnicka, a retail market analyst at PMR said that Starbucks' entry would not affect the market's structure in the short term. "Coffee Heaven, with its 40 shops, is Poland's leader, and Starbucks, if it develops its chain from scratch, shouldn't have an impact on this company, at least in the short term," said Machnicka. She added that it is also possible that instead of building a whole new chain, Starbucks or AmRest could acquire one of the already existing brands.

AmRest's Sielecki also announced that a similar MOU had been signed with Burger King. The agreement makes possible Burger King's return to the Polish market after the chain closed its operations here at the beginning of 2001.