【My Sisters Friend (2019)】

Starbucks has launched its first Reserve store in Cambodia's capital of Phnom Penh.

The My Sisters Friend (2019)Reserve branding for Starbucks represents its higher-end specialty outlets, meant to compete with third-wave coffeeshops with small lot beans and baristas trained in hand-poured preparation methods.

SEE ALSO: Hardworking police dog enjoys a refreshing Starbucks puppuccino

The store is Starbucks' third in the capital, following two other (regular) outlets it opened in the last 10 months in Phnom Penh. Worldwide, Starbucks has opened more than 2,000 of its Reserve locations since launching the premium brand in 2014.

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Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

With the new, two-story, 650-square-meter (7,000 square feet) shop, Starbucks is making a big statement in the emerging market, where the majority of locals might find the price of a cup of Chemex-brewed coffee out of reach.

Starbucks told Mashablethat a small latte will go for $2.95. This places its drinks more or less on a par with much of the competition.

Fellow American chain, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, prices its lattes at $2.50.

Brown, a local chain carrying similar espresso-based coffees as its Western counterparts, prices a small latte at $2.40, according to its website.

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Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

A ripe time for entry into Cambodia

Starbucks' December 2015 entry into Cambodia is comparatively late given that The Coffee Bean first opened in the capital in 2011. The latter now has five outlets in Phnom Penh, all within roughly a 5-kilometer radius of each other.

Other global coffee chains like Gloria Jeans and Costa Coffee also have outlets in Cambodia.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Starbucks said: "We take a thoughtful, disciplined approach to growth in Cambodia that is locally relevant and in line with our company’s values. Our growth story is not just about expanding our store count in the market."

If anything, this might be a good time to capture the young and growing middle class working in the capital.

In July, the World Bank raised Cambodia's economic status to the lower-middle income bracket, placing it together with other growing neighbours such as Vietnam and the Philippines.

The bracket is set between $1,026 and $4,035 per individual a year.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Even Brown, which was set up by a group of young Cambodians in 2009, initially targeted expats, but by 2013 found a growing local base coming to them, they told Phnom Penh Post.

Local coffee is wildly different from Starbucks

Starbucks and its peers have another challenge in Cambodia: converting mass tastes to the Western style of coffee preparation.

Locally, most people are just getting used to the espresso-style coffees that most Western markets drink. The common coffee you'd find on the street is a thick, instant coffee powder-based concoction cut with lots of sweetened condensed milk.

And compared with lattes and cappuccinos, local coffee is typically priced at just 3,000 riel ($0.74) a cup.

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