Too hot to handle

Font Size

Print

Feedback

Email

Discuss

: they managed to get the people in.

The strategy was simple. The company chose high-street locations, where people couldn’t miss the outlets, and promised a novel experience. The idea was to first attract the consumer and then sustain their interest with the service and an ever-changing menu.

But those were different times. Today’s youth is more demanding and the market more crowded. And for Barista, wresting the first-mover advantage—it was the first chain though CCD launched its first outlet before Barista—back from CCD, would be far from easy.

If the number of outlets is anything to go by, Barista has clearly fallen behind. While CCD boasts of 475 outlets across 87 cities in the country, Barista has 175 stores across 29 locations, with 16 located outside India. CCD executives say the company is busy preparing to launch its 500th café in India, with plans afoot to set up 12 outlets in Europe and Pakistan.

Numbers notwithstanding, Barista executives are bullish. “Our business philosophy is that we must have a very vibrant brand,” says CEO Dattagupta. “Brand image isn’t necessarily a function of the number of stores. It’s a function of what people think about the brand, the loyalty they exhibit towards it and the repeat purchase of the brand products.”

The company also plans to open 70 outlets by the end of this financial year and 100 more by the next fiscal. That apart, it hopes to set up an average of 100 outlets per annum over the next two/three years. “That may not still make us No 1 in terms of the number of outlets. But that’s OK,” says Dattagupta.

Clearly, Barista is, at the moment, more concerned with its brand image, profitability and a sustainable growth model rather than expansion. To that end, it is ready to invest about Rs 140-150 crore over the next three years. Barista, which works with has two models—the mass Espresso bars and the upmarket Crème bars—is currently renovating about 100 of its outlets. The company also plans to extend the Wi-fi services, currently available at 35 stores, to 100 locations.