Tata Coffee re-entering Retail

August 11, 2008	(Be the first to rate this story!)  Loading ...
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Tata Coffee is seeking a re-entry in to the retail business by setting up a café chain across the country. The company exited the business in December 2004. In 2001, the Tatas bought stake in Barista from the Turner Morrison group for Rs 26 crore. After three years, they exited Barista after selling its stake to Sivasankaran’s Sterling Infotech reportedly for Rs 65 crore. The Company, which sold its 34.3 per cent equity in Barista to NRI investor C Sivasankaran, is waiting for the contract it signed with Barista to expire. MH Ashraff, managing director of Tata Coffee stated, “The non-compete agreement period ends next year and we will consider setting up a coffee bar chain then. We have not decided anything on the size and investment of the chain,”

“In the last three years, domestic consumption of coffee has gone up steadily, with out-of-home consumption of coffee growing at a faster rate of 12-13 per cent. At present, India has a coffee consumption of nearly one lakh tonne a year,” said industry officials.Tata Coffee owns 19 coffee estates in South India. It produces 10,000 tonne of Arabica and Robusta coffees.

Tata Coffee, Asia’s largest coffee plantation company, is already running its branded coffee powder retail business through Mr. Bean Coffee Junction. Mr. Bean outlets have been opened in Kochi and Coimbatore and the company is planning to launch three more, including those in Chennai and Pondicherry. “For setting up a café chain of 100 outlets entails an investment of Rs 75-100 crore. The investment will vary according to the location and the volume of business the company eyes.

News Published Under:   Real Estate India |

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