No Starbucks in Pakistan? Lattes from Sattar Buksh comes to rescue

It all started as a joke since Starbucks had no branches in Pakistan. However, two entrepreneurs Rizwan Ahmad and Adnan Yousuf turned what began as a joke into a successful and booming business in Pakistan.

Sattar Buksh, a coffeehouse whose logo and concept were inspired by Starbucks, the giant American coffee company and coffeehouse chain which has over 16,000 branches across the world, has been open in Pakistan since 2013.

At first glance, Sattar Buksh’s logo seems to have a striking resemblance to the famous Starbucks' Siren logo. However, the Pakistani café’s logo differs in many details.

Man with a moustache

Armaghan Shahid, Sattar Buksh’s Managing Director, told Al Arabiya that Starbucks has in the past filed a legal notice against the coffee shop due to its logo, which features a man with a moustache, but failed to win the case, leaving its logo intact.

Shahid also said that although the logo first appears to resemble Starbucks’, it is actually very different, adding that the café’s menu is more diverse than that of the American company.

Sattar Buksh’s menu includes coffee, pastry, desserts, sandwiches, hamburgers, a variety of hot and cold beverages and shisha.

‘Moby Dick’

The name Starbucks is inspired by Herman Melville’s classic novel ‘Moby Dick’ which was published in 1851. Starbuck was one of the novel's characters and he was fond of coffee.

The giant company was established in 1971 in Seattle, Washington, by Gordon Bowker, Jerry Baldwin and Zev Siegl.

However, according to Sattar Buksh’s official website, Sattar Buksh is “that wise man on the street who is full of worldly inputs, not through formal education, but through his experience.”

“Sattar Buksh aims to be that man on the street,” the website adds.

According to Shahid, Sattar Buksh has two branches in Pakistan, one in Islamabad and another in Karachi. He said the company will like to open more branches inside and outside Pakistan if it is legally possible to do so.

The coffee shop also holds live musical events by Pakistani artists, he said.

(The story was first published in the Arabic-language website for Al Arabiya News Channel)