Starbucks Korea says it will expand its premium Reserve store network to meet the growing demand for specialty coffee among local consumers.

The company will open two Reserve stores in Seoul and a third in Pangyo, just south of the capital, this week. They will raise to 30 the number of upscale Reserve cafes in the country, which is already the third-largest total of any international market, behind China with 52 and the US with 35.

Starbucks Korea is a joint venture between Starbucks Coffee International and South Korea’s Shinsegae Group.

The number of Reserve bars in South Korea stood at 15 as of the end of last year, so has nearly doubled in the past six months.

“We will continue to increase the number of Reserve bars in line with the growing demand for specialty coffee among local consumers,” a Starbucks Korea official said.

Starbucks remains the undisputed No 1 in Korea’s coffee industry and was the first such chain the country to surpass 1 trillion won (US$895 million) in sales. It has more than 1150 stores nationwide.

The size of South Korea’s domestic coffee market reached 6.4 trillion won at the end of 2016, up 30.6 per cent from 2014, according to government data.

Sorce: Inside Retail Asia