• Bloomberg, Friday, November 12, 2010 11:02 AM

Michael Wei reports that Starbucks plans to open 500 stores in its fiscal year that began in October, with 400 outside the U.S., as the global economy recovers. Wei spoke with CEO Howard Schultz in China's Yunnan province today, where the latter announced plans to set up a farm and tea-processing facilities in Pu'er county.

"I think the opportunity that we have in China -- we've underestimated it in terms of the number of stores and the reach that Starbucks is going to have," Schultz says, without specifically saying how many stores the company will open there. It currently has about 800 in the Greater China area.

Starbucks dominated the coffee shop market in China with a 69.8% share last year. No. 2 player Jiangsu Yueda Group, which operates Costa Coffee restaurants, had 5%, according to Euromonitor International.

Dow Jones Newswires, meanwhile, reports Starbucks will sell single-service coffee machines in the U.S., as well as instant coffee pods to accompany them. Schultz says they will be an extension of the Via brand but a timetable has yet to be determined.

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