Starbucks Honduras has announced the opening of the brand’s first coffeehouse in Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, a city the company describes as one of the market’s most important economic and commercial centers.

The opening of the drive-thru location represents a second milestone for the brand in Latin America: it is the 1,900th Starbucks coffeehouse in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the 100th store operated by Premium Restaurants of America (PRA), the operator behind Starbucks in Honduras. PRA manages Starbucks operations in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Taken together, the twin benchmarks illustrate how the company’s regional expansion is layered through multi-country operators: a single capital-city opening simultaneously marks the 100th store for one partner’s four-market portfolio and the 1,900th for the region as a whole.

The Tegucigalpa opening is the sixth Starbucks location in Honduras, and the first to bring the brand into the capital itself.

Ricardo Arias-Nath, Senior Vice President and President of Starbucks Latin America and the Caribbean, said the new restaurant marks an important milestone for the region.

“As the nation’s capital and a key economic hub, Tegucigalpa represents an exciting opportunity to deepen our connection with customers in Honduras. This opening is especially meaningful because Honduras is both an important coffee origin and a growing retail market,” he said.

“Together with Premium Restaurants of America, we are proud to invest in the city’s future while creating new opportunities for connection, community, and exceptional coffee experiences.”

It is a pairing that gives the milestone added weight: the 1,900-store mark for Latin America and the Caribbean falls in a country the company itself describes as an important coffee origin, tying a retail headline back to the crop at the center of the category.

To commemorate the opening, The Starbucks Foundation awarded a Global Community Impact Grant to Aldeas Infantiles SOS Honduras. According to the company, the grant will help more than 150 young people in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula build employability skills, access workforce training, and prepare for long-term economic opportunity over the next year. With a one-year horizon and a stated reach of more than 150 young people across two cities, the grant gives the market entry a concrete community component that readers can follow as it unfolds.

Source: Global Coffee Report