Would a Starbucks Return Change Russian Coffee Service?

Starbucks filed eight trademark applications with the Russian Federal Intellectual Property Office on May 23 and 24, covering names such as Starbucks Coffee and Frappuccino plus instant coffee, beverage preparation and membership management. More filings followed in late May and early June. The company has not confirmed any plan to reopen, so the move remains speculation.

Starbucks left Russia in 2022 after Western sanctions, and its roughly 130 shops were bought by a local firm and rebranded as Stars Coffee, which is still in a trademark dispute with Starbucks. Russia's coffee service market has changed markedly since, with tighter competition and shifting consumer habits, so a comeback would not be straightforward.

Recently, Starbucks was reported to have filed multiple trademark registration applications with the Russian Federal Intellectual Property Office, covering core brand identifiers such as "Starbucks Coffee" and "Frappuccino," as well as related categories including instant coffee, beverage preparation, and membership management. This move quickly sparked speculation about whether the company plans to return to the Russian market. After exiting Russia in 2022, Starbucks' Russian assets were acquired by a local company and renamed "Stars Coffee," and a trademark legal dispute still exists between that brand and Starbucks. The Russian coffee market has undergone significant changes over the past two years, with intensified competition, shifting consumer habits, and lingering uncertainty in the political and economic environment. Even if Starbucks returns, it may not be smooth sailing. Officials have not yet formally responded.

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According to Global Times, Starbucks submitted 8 trademark registration applications to the Russian Federal Intellectual Property Office over two days, May 23 and 24 this year, covering brand identifiers familiar to consumers such as "Starbucks Coffee" and "Frappuccino."

According to Russia's TASS news agency, Starbucks also submitted multiple trademark registration applications to the Russian Federal Intellectual Property Office between late last month and the 1st of this month, involving fields such as instant coffee, on-site beverage and food preparation, and membership program management.

This series of moves inevitably led outsiders to speculate about Starbucks' official plans. After learning the news, netizens mocked the brand with the lyric "You were the one who wanted to separate, so let's separate," jokingly calling it a real-life version of "Love Trade."

After the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out, the West imposed economic sanctions on Russia. Starbucks entered the Russian market in 2007 and operated there for many years, becoming deeply loved by local consumers. However, affected by the situation, it announced in March 2022 that it would suspend all business activities in Russia, and in late May of the same year decided to exit the Russian market, with its 130 chain coffee shops in the country subsequently ceasing operations.

In July of the same year, Anton Pinsky, founder of the well-known Russian catering company Pinskiy&Co, partnered with Russian rapper Timati to acquire and take over Starbucks' Russian assets for about 500 million rubles (about $6 million).

Because the acquisition did not include the brand trademark or recipes, these chain coffee shops uniformly adopted the new name "Stars Coffee" when they reopened, and Starbucks' iconic mermaid logo was replaced with the image of a girl wearing traditional Russian headwear. The drinks in the stores are highly similar to Starbucks products, so netizens called it the "Russian version of Starbucks."

During its two years of operation, "Stars Coffee" continued to provide local consumers with coffee services similar to Starbucks. In April this year, the brand's owner filed a claim with a local court demanding the termination of legal protection for the Starbucks trademark. From this perspective, Starbucks' current trademark registration applications in Russia may not only indicate a possible desire to return to the Russian market, but may also reflect a consideration to protect brand rights and trademarks.

However, in the media's view, Starbucks may have seen business opportunities in Russia's gradually stabilizing market and only then planned to return. Moreover, having operated in Russia for 15 years, Starbucks has broad recognition and a consumer base, which would also help the brand quickly restore its influence and market share after returning.

It is just that the Russian coffee market today may have become increasingly competitive over the past two years, consumers' tastes and consumption habits have changed accordingly, and given the uncertainty of the current political and economic environment, if Starbucks returns to Russia, its market operations may not go as smoothly as expected.

After relevant news was reported by the media, speculation and expectations among Russian industry players and local consumers regarding Starbucks have heated up, but Starbucks officials have not yet made a formal response to the news.

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.