‘We are in the business of selling an experience’

With plans to establish 150 cafés in India in the next few years, Rahul Leekha, director, Di Bella Coffee India talks about the ‘ultimate coffee experience’ his company brings to Indian customers By Sudipta Dev

In a primarily tea drinking country, do you foresee any interesting trends in terms of coffee consumption ? What will drive the growth?

Coffee retailing is a growing segment in India. It is close to Rs 450 crore at the moment and is expected to grow at an annual rate of 30 per cent. India is an emerging cafe nation with immense scope for coffee production and consumption. Coffee today is the second most consumed drink in the world; second only to water. With the current escalating graph of coffee consumption in India, there is surely an opportunity for all.

How important is the India market in your global strategic plans?

Post it’s successful stints and rapid growth story in Australia, New-Zealand, India and China, Di Bella Coffee is spreading it’s wings globally with expansion plans for the Middle East and the UK market amongst others are underway. Di Bella Coffee India is very bullish on the Indian market. We also plan to setup a roasting warehouse which would freshly roast coffee within the cafés. This is going to be an industry first.

Your expansion plans in the next five years? In which regions?

We currently have nine cafes with seven under fit-outs. India is a very dynamic market and has tremendous potential for quality products. We plan to open 120-150 cafes in the next three years across all major metro cities.

How is the ‘ultimate coffee experience’ that you offer different from the other brands?

Di Bella Coffee is much more than just coffee and conversation; it’s the ultimate coffee experience. We aim to gather customer loyalty and promote our business mainly through the unique selling propositions Di Bella Coffee offers. Customers today are inspirational and want to experience premium brands more than previous generations. We are in the business of selling an experience. We have observed that a customer will turn into a loyalist once he connects emotionally with a brand.