India’s coffee business has seen sort of a resurgence in the last two years with a host of global and Indian players ramping up their presence throughout the country
New Delhi: Australian coffee chain The Coffee Club is entering India, the latest player in India’s food and beverage segment that has witness a lot of action lately. The Coffee Club has signed New Delhi-based CK Israni Group as its India master franchisee.
CK Israni plans to open 100 cafes of the Australian brand in the next three to five years.
“We are still figuring out whether it is going to start from Delhi or Mumbai,” said Chandni Nath Israni, co-founder of CK Israni. “The Coffee Club is a mass market brand, and we will start rolling out stores from next year.”
Since opening its first outlet in Brisbane in 1989, The Coffee Club went on to become Australia’s largest home-grown café chain, operating about 400 stores in nine countries, according to its website. The company said it has more than 40 million dedicated customers.
The Coffee Club is the second F&B venture from CK Israni after its partnership with high-end French baker and sweet maker Laduree.
Currently, CK Israni operates two Laduree outlets in the National Capital Region (NCR), one in Khan Market and another one in Ambience Mall, Gurugram. Israni said her company plans to open seven more Laduree outlets by 2023.
India’s coffee business has seen sort of a resurgence in the last two years with a host of global and Indian players ramping up their presence throughout the country. US-based giant Starbucks is expanding aggressively, and Tata Starbucks joint venture announced opening of its 307th store on Thursday in Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh.
“Coffee isn’t just an excuse for conversation anymore. It’s almost a starter, a post meal and for some even a meal. Earlier people would barely know the difference between a cappuccino and a latte,” said Shriram PM Monga, co-founder of retail consultancy SRED. “Today coffee enthusiasts are well versed with coffee variants, the right brews and beans. Not only has the market for cafes widened, it’s also the market for coffee machines, pods and syrups that has seen a major jump.”
Vijayawada became the 37th city in India with a Starbucks outlet. Tim Hortons made its India entry earlier this year and the Canada-based coffee chain currently runs about half-a-dozen outlets in the NCR.
Similarly, another Australian coffee chain Gloria Jeans is making a comeback to India.
