Barista Coffee Company Ltd is brewing widespread expansion plans in India by adding 100 stores entailing an investment of Rs 40 crore every year, according to its chief operating officer, Sanjay Coutinho.
The retail coffee chain, which was bought over by Italy’s coffee brand Lavazza in 2007, currently has 230 stores in the country. Out of 100 new stores to be opened in tier-I and tier-II cities every year, 20 would be of the Crème lounge and highway store formats and the balance, Espresso bars, he said.
The company holds 25 per cent share of the Rs 400-crore retail coffee bar market in the country. Addressing mediapersons at an interactive session here on Thursday he said the company targeted clocking a post-tax profit for the first time in India in 2009-10. It was hopeful of growing its revenue by 25 per cent during the period over Rs 150 crore registered in 2008-09, he said.
“We expect our growth to come from store expansions and from reduction in rental costs through negotiations,” he says, adding that the company has already managed to bring down rental costs by 15-50 per cent in some of its existing stores.
“The negotiation may vary from place to place but we expect our bottom line to improve by a direct 15 per cent reduction in rental cost this year,” he says. The company also plans to serve wine and beer in its Crème stores from September and had applied for liquor licences from some State governments, he said. The service might be rolled out first in Delhi, he added.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
