Starbucks is planning to enter the Italian coffee market in 2017.

Starbucks is considered to be one of the world's biggest coffee chains and is planning to open an outlet in Milan in early 2017. The company faces a big hurdle in opening up a store in Italy, where a huge percentage of its population is coffee drinkers.

According to Forbes, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz claims that he was inspired to create his business from Italians and their passion for coffee. Schultz reportedly tried to replicate the Milan coffee shop he visited in the '80s in his own store's brand.

The outlet reports that Italians do not like Starbucks-style coffee. It is revealed that most Italians like to drink coffee at home and when they do go out, they like simple espresso and cappuccinos in affordable coffee shops. Starbucks typically offer more elaborate coffee like frappuccinos and many others. Furthermore, Italians do not cater very much to foreign brands and celebrate their own "baristi," which is hailed to be an important profession in the country.

Starbucks plans to break into the Italian coffee market by collaborating with Percassi. According to the International Business Times, Italian company Percassi has collaborated with Tommy Hilfiger, Zara, Ralph Lauren and Nike. It helped bring the Zara brand to Italy.

"We know that we are going to face a unique challenge with the opening of the first Starbucks store in Italy, the country of coffee, and we are confident that Italian people are ready to live the Starbucks experience, as already occurs in many other markets", said Antonio Percassi, founder and president of his company.

The company intends to customize the coffee menu in Milan by featuring espresso and it will be managed by Percassi.

"We plan to tailor our offerings to the Italian customer in a way that will demonstrate the respect and learning we've acquired. [However] espresso will clearly be star of the show," Starbucks said.

Schultz shares that it has been a dream to expand to Italy and it took him a bit of time to get ready.

"The dream of the company always has been to sometime complete the circle and open in Italy, but we haven't been ready," Schultz said in a new release posted on the Starbucks' website

"I want partners to be extraordinarily proud that we're going back to the source where it all began, and we're going to do it in a way that brings every aspect of the Starbucks Experience to life in Italy," he concluded.