Unique yet revenue generating coffee business

Gujarat-based brand, Coffee Culture is witnessing a fast growth in India. The brand even plans to move to foreign locations via franchising. Gaurave Naarang, Director, Coffee Culture spoke to Franchise India on his plans for the brand and how proudly the brand lives by its tagline- ‘Unculture Yourself’.

Tell us about your brand Coffee Culture. When was it established and when did you opt for franchising?

Coffee Culture first outlet was started way back in Dec 2004. Since then it’s been strong 11 years to the brand. We started franchising in 2008, since then it has been quite consolidated growth of the brand. Coffee Culture Cafes are superior café lounges with quirky ambiance and lively atmosphere. Our café lounges are everyday hangouts for all segments of crowd. Coffee Culture apart from Coffees & Beverages is also known for great sizzlers, pizzas  and burgers. The beauty of the concept is that one can casually dine any time of the day. USP of the brand is Live non-alcoholic shots, non authentic sizzlers, and the kind of Food Festivals we create every alternate month. Our Café Lounges are not proto type copy paste formats. We feel that ambiance is the most important element of cafes. We create spaces for all segment of crowd. Free Wi-Fi, crowd sourced music, books on sale, furniture on sale, private lounge, IPad-based feedbacks, quirky merchandise are some of the extra value adds you would discover in our outlets.

How difficult was it to launch a coffee brand in India when there are already existing players in the market? What were the challenges?

Coffee Culture, The Ristorante Lounge has changed the way people look at cafes. Our cafes are more of second home for young and old alike. We serve “Freshly Cooked Food” unlike other cafes. Our ambiance and our product offering has always been quite unique. Our engagement based campaigns with almost around six unique food festivals and trending topic themes every year have helped us to always have an edge over our competition.. So as of now , we don’t face any competition in terms of café, rather looking at the other side of the coin every other food outlet is a competition.

How many outlets do you have in India and how many are franchisee run?

We have 11 outlets in India. Three are company owned and eight are franchised.

Do you seek any particular quality in a franchisee?

Yes, we look for operators who are passionate about food. We seek people who are willing to invest and ready to work.

What are future plans for your brand? Where all you wish to open your outlets? Any international plans too?

We plant to go international and create café lounges across Asia. By the end of 2019, we plan to open 100 outlets. Yes, we are exploring options in UAE via Master Franchise route.

What do you think how different is the coffee culture in India as compared to the UK, US etc?

Coffee’s culture in India is absolutely not the way it is in UK, US. In India, it’s more of lifestyle and in the US, UK, it’s more a part of every day life. People in India are not at all coffee connoisseurs. They look more for experience with great coffee.

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