Determined to spread wings faster via franchise model

La Villa Cafe Pvt Ltd’s, Tea Villa Cafe is one of Mumbai’s favourite tea places now. It’s Founder and Directors Roopanshi Bhatt and Micky Panjwani travelled a lot of get this concept in place. Their travels made them realize that the nation was hardly talking about its favourite cuppa in the manner it deserved and coffee-drinking was being touted as the natural habit. To get and reclaim tea, its rightful place they came up with Tea Villa Cafe across Mumbai and soon plan to venture out throughout the country. Tea Villa Cafe is proud to be the only brand which serves around 80 different types of teas which is the first in India. Let’s know more from its founders about their plans via franchising and competition with cafeterias too.

Do you really think there is need of tea place in India? Do people really prefer to come out and have tea when we already have players like CCD, Costa?
India is one of the largest nations which is dominated by tea drinkers and being second in the world of tea sellers it is huge when it comes to the tea market. Till now people prefer tea over coffee, or espresso or any other drink. With this thought we require Tea cafes in India where you can cater the crowd with different types of teas keeping in mind the traditional Indian tea to sell as well. Tea Villa has filled that gap in India to take care of the tea drinkers. We have tea, coffee and food all under one roof. Cafes like CCD, Costa have different market where they serve coffee and pre- cooked food. We have nothing that is pre cooked or out of cold storage. Everything is fresh.

What are your thoughts on franchise model? Why did u choose it?
Tea Villa cafe is now wide spread across Mumbai at Vile Parle (1st outlet), Bandra, Versova, Thane, Chembur, Grant Road, Kandivali, Juhu and so on. We have one opening in Pune in July, followed by Surat and Ahmedadad. Franchising is the fastest and safest method to expand in a market like India. It also makes the brand reach country wide making it available at different places and regions across the country.

What has been the response from Mumbai? Do you think the same response will be received in smaller towns as well? What is your action plan to enter tinsel towns pan-India?
Mumbai has given us ample of love and amazing response from day one. We have already set a record of being houseful on day one in an hour. We have got a lot of inquiries from small towns and we are planning to open soon in places like Surat, Baroda, Indore. We would make sure that a lot of research and study is put in before we enter any market.

Plan for this year plus focus cities?
We look forward to have around 50 outlets this year. Our focus is on cities like Pune, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Baroda, Indore etc where people still want better hangout places with great choice on tea and food.

Biggest challenges for the cafeterias and tea places in India
I feel till now we have not faced any challenges as Tea Villa Cafe is the only brand which serves around 80 different types of teas which is the first in India along with food like breakfast options, Indian, continental, Chinese, Mexican, health options, fruits, milkshakes, juices, etc, all under one roof with amazing ambience and free wi-fi to relax.

How do you keep a check on quality?
We have our head chef and under him we have many senior chefs to check on quality. Apart from this we ensure proper training to the staff, one month before opening of any outlet. We ensure that our staff is fully trained in every aspect including maintaining quality across all our outlets.

What is the total investment and space required to be your franchisee for Tea Villa?
Total space required for Tea Villa Cafe is min 1500 sqft with an investment of around 1 crore for one store depending on the interiors, area, etc.