Aroma Of Greenbacks!
How coffee connoisseurs are fuelling India’s coffee renaissance across the metros and smaller towns, and ushering in an era of diverse brewing experiences and innovative cafe concepts
On 10 September dwindling sales of the world’s largest coffeehouse chain, Starbucks, culminated in a change of guard. In India, though, the US multinational’s joint venture with Tata Consumer Products, Tata Starbucks is on an expansion mode. Since it opened its first outlet in Mumbai in 2012, Tata Starbucks has proliferated to 410 outlets across 60 Indian cities. Canadian multinational Tim Hortons only entered India in August 2022 and is today present at 29 outlets across Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Punjab. Home-grown coffee shop chain Barista is not just coping with the competition, Barista Coffee CEO Rajat Agrawal is talking of expansion strategies.
As Tata Starbucks CEO Sushant Dash, tells us, “India's coffee culture has seen significant growth in the past decade, attributed to younger consumers”. Our cover feature this fortnight probes the Indian coffee market, estimated to be worth $1.2 billion by 2032. Specialist coffee and tea shops comprise 86 per cent of this market and though dominated by legacy brands, there seems to be plenty of room for budding young startups like abCoffee, Third Wave Coffee and Beanly, who are offering premium and unique blends of coffee, with an experiential ambience thrown in. Tata Coffee recently partnered with a rap artist in Tamil Nadu, ‘Arivu’, to create a coffee anthem. Blue Tokai’s chain of more than 100 cafés offer brewing classes, community meetups and appreciation for Indian art and artists. Investors have taken a keen interest in this ecosystem. In the last two years Indian speciality coffee chains have raised close to $100 million in venture capital, compared to a cumulative $22 million in the preceding four years.
We also have a special report on the telecom sector, which looks at the widening gap between skyrocketing data consumption and stagnant revenue growth. The leading telcos, Airtel and Jio, aim to address this through targeted tariff hikes and premium services, but concerns linger about maintaining affordability and long-term sustainability. Finally, I must mention the very illuminating conversation I have had with the bright, young tech entrepreneur Saket Modi. Do read of his fascinating journey from running ethical hacking workshops as a college student to founding the Silicon Valley startup, Safe Security.
The Last Word goes to Dr Niranjan Hiranandani, Chairman, NAREDCO & Hiranandani Group. He stresses how leaders must foster resilient, people-centric cultures and lead with empathy to transform challenges into growth opportunities.
Of course, we also bring to you all our regular columns and features.
Happy reading!
