Blue Tokai: India's small home roaster that brewed a multi-thousand-crore café business

What happens when you take a coffee roaster operating out of a home in Delhi, and turn it into a multi-thousand-crore café business?

In 2013, Matt Chitharanjan and Namrata Asthana set out to change how India experienced coffee. With a 500-gram roaster, freshly sourced Arabica beans and a farm-to-cup philosophy, they built the beginnings of Blue Tokai. What started as a direct-to-consumer experiment would eventually grow into a business spanning cafés, packaged coffee, subscriptions and bakery.

Now, Blue Tokai is preparing for its biggest test yet. Singapore’s Temasek Holdings is competing with ChrysCapital to invest Rs 1,000–1,200 crore in the company at a valuation of Rs 3,550–3,700 crore, potentially becoming its single largest shareholder, ET reported on Monday.


Also read: Temasek, ChrysCap brew up plans for Blue Tokai stake, put Rs 1000-1200 crore on the table

The proposed transaction could give one investor a 30–33% stake in Blue Tokai, or see that holding split between two investors. It would be the company’s largest fundraising round so far and include both primary capital and secondary share sales.

The company reported revenue of Rs 325 crore in FY25, a 50% year-on-year increase, while its loss narrowed 20.6% to Rs 50 crore. Its parent, Muhavra Enterprises, currently operates around 240 outlets in India and plans to take that number to 800 by FY30.

The business began with a question

Blue Tokai’s story began at a time when India grew coffee but had limited access to freshly roasted, traceable specialty coffee.

A profile published by Zomato in May 2025 described how Chitharanjan, who moved to Chennai from the US in 2011, became interested in the global third wave coffee movement. The movement emphasised farm-to-cup sourcing, transparency and a greater appreciation of coffee’s origin and quality.

India’s coffee market was largely shaped by mass-produced blends and street-side kiosks. Coffee was widely consumed, but details about where it came from, how it was processed and how it was roasted were rarely part of the customer’s experience.

Chitharanjan and Asthana moved to Delhi in 2012, built a website, worked with a packaging company and began sourcing Arabica beans from Indian farmers. They started small, operating a 500-gram roaster from Asthana’s family home. Their first outlet opened in 2013.

Shivam Shahi joined the company in 2016 after discovering Blue Tokai online. His exposure to specialty coffee in Canada had shown him that customers could be willing to pay more for quality. After returning to India and losing his job when a technology company shut down, he began visiting premium cafés. That experience helped him recognise the opportunity Blue Tokai was pursuing.

Also read: Blue Tokai brews up competition with Starbucks in India’s potential $1.15 billion market: Report

Coffee became a larger consumer proposition

Blue Tokai did not remain only a café company. It expanded into packaged coffee, subscriptions and delivery, allowing customers to experience the brand both in stores and at home.

Its farm-to-cup positioning also extended across the value chain. According to the Zomato profile, the founders worked closely with farmers, roasting, packaging and distributing coffee across multiple channels and formats. The company also focused on manufacturing its products in-house.

Food became an increasingly important part of that proposition. Blue Tokai acquired Suchali’s Artisan Bakehouse in 2024, giving it an in-house bakery business and the ability to create synergies between coffee, meals and café visits.

The company’s business mix consisted of 45% beverages, 40% food and 15% retail at the time. Its food range included almond croissants, butter croissants and mushroom sourdough sandwiches, while its beverage menu included Vietnamese-style iced coffee, cappuccino and trioccino.

Then, Blue Tokai began looking beyond India. After noticing a steady stream of Japanese customers at its Sikanderpur outlet, the founders identified a market that valued quality, origin and product stories. Blue Tokai subsequently expanded into Japan and developed a distribution network in Dubai.

According to a Reuters report published in November 2024, Blue Tokai had more than 130 cafés and planned to operate around 350 within three years. The company was targeting annual revenue of Rs 1,000 crore by 2027. Its chief executive had also said that healthy profit margins would be important before considering an initial public offering.

The market is moving beyond expansion

The investor interest in Blue Tokai reflects the broader transformation of India’s café market. IMARC Group estimates that the market, valued at $425 million in 2025, could reach $1.15 billion by 2034, growing at an annual rate of 11.14%.

Starbucks, which operates in India through a joint venture with Tata Consumer Products, has more than 500 stores and plans to add up to 100 annually. Costa Coffee, Café Coffee Day, Barista, Pret A Manger, Tim Hortons and Third Wave Coffee are also competing for premium consumers.

But store growth alone is no longer enough. High real estate costs and rising employee expenses have kept several chains under pressure. Blue Tokai’s improving profitability therefore matters as much as its expansion plans.

That, perhaps, explains the strategic logic behind the potential bidders.

Temasek has backed Indian food and beverage businesses including Haldiram’s, Licious and Rebel Foods, as well as China’s Luckin Coffee. ChrysCapital acquired Theobroma in 2025 and could find operational synergies between the patisserie chain and Blue Tokai, although no merger decision has been taken.

The larger question is whether India’s premium café market is entering its next phase, one where the race is no longer simply to open the most stores, but to build the most profitable habit. Blue Tokai’s journey suggests that the winners may be those that can turn a better cup into a repeatable, scalable business.