Coffee Day to face Starbucks in expanded Squares
09 Apr 2012
Bangalore-based Café Coffee Day (CCD) is ramping up its premium outlets as it prepares to face competition from US chain Starbucks, which is all set to enter India. To this end CCD would expand its chain of upmarket 'Square' outlets, of which there are currently only two - one in Bangalore and the other in New Delhi.
The Squares serve fancy coffees at higher prices than average.
Starbucks aims to position itself at the top end. In order to match this, CCD is looking at larger outlets required for Square, says a Hindustan Times report. It says the joint venture between Tata Global Beverages and Starbucks, which plans to invest Rs400 crore and open 50 outlets by the end of 2012, is looking at outlets measuring 3,000 to 3,500 sq ft.
VG Siddhartha, who owns the Amalgamated Bean Co that runs the Café Coffee Day chain of coffee shops, first opened Square three years ago and then went slow.
"Square is a tough format to expand," said Ramakrishnan K, president marketing, Café Coffee Day. "Typically it requires a 2,000 sq ft; and we need experts in terms of staff working there.
"Between a Lounge and the Square, the difference lies in the treatment," he further said. "The Square format is for the absolute coffee connoisseur. It is coffee snobbery and we don't serve tea at Square."