Gloria Jean`s Coffees enters India

Gloria Jean's Coffees, one of world`s leading coffee chains, announced its foray into India in alliance with Citymax India, the hospitality arm of the Dubai-based retail giant Landmark Group at Franchise India 2007. The first Gloria Jean`s Coffees outlet would open in Mumbai in February next year and in New Delhi by June, after which it plans to venture into Bangalore and other cities. The $2-billion Citymax India is planning to invest about Rs.400 million to open 90 Gloria Jean`s Coffees outlets across the country within the next four years. It aims to open 500 such outlets by 2017. `Franchising is the route to owning your business - 90 percent of the food outlets in US are franchised compared with only one percent in India. Franchising would enable lots of entrepreneurs to leverage their skills, real estate and investments to build a strong business,' Ravi Saxena, managing director, Citymax India said. Australia-based Gloria Jean`s Coffees is present in 30 countries with about 800 outlets, of which 435 are in Australia. According industry estimates, the coffee retailing business in India is about Rs.6 billion per annum growing by 30 percent a year. India currently has about 1,200 coffee outlets, which would increase to 2,500 by 2011.