Coffee Day set to brew 3 premium formats

BANGALORE: India���s biggest cafe chain Coffee Day will unfurl three new premium formats as it brews the next phase of growth. Coffee Day Square, which will become the chain���s flagship outlets, will roll-out into four metros over the next six months, specialising in ���single origin��� coffees���classic beans sourced from a single estate in a single country across the world���targeted at a more discerning consumer.

Coffee Day Lounge will be cafes where beverage is paired with food, where people ���meet over a meal��� and not just coffee. The third format, still to be named, may be resembling a cafe nightclub and would look at offering a more vibrant experience with live DJ music and bar-stool seats.

The decade-old Coffee Day, which heralded a cafe revolution in urban India, is also powering ahead with its existing core format that has carved out a place as ���young hangouts���. At present, the chain has 694 outlets and is seen adding 20-25 every month in a slowing market. The 3,000 sqft first Coffee Day Square, the most premium of the emerging formats, is expected to open in Bangalore next month, to be followed by 8-10 more outlets across the four top metros in six months, Cafe Coffee Day director Alok Gupta told ET. ���Cafe Coffee Day has been a youth hang-out, now Coffee Day Square will be a ���coffee hangout��� for a more discerning, young-at-heart consumer who wants a truly great cup of coffee,��� he added.

Besides the single-origin brews from around the world, it will also propel India���s signature coffees ���like Araku Emerald and Rajgiri Pearl���into the cafe culture. ���The effort is to take consumers up the value chain and connect them with India���s coffee heritage in a contemporary way,��� Mr Gupta said.

The next in the line, Coffee Day Lounge, will be more focused on the dining experience. ���This will be a gourmet format where we will look at food as a separate vertical. Here we will offer diet food, traditional foods and separate offerings for children, among others,��� he said. The biggest youth puller, however, is likely to be the third format resembling a nightclub, which the company will start rolling out only after six months. Mr Gupta describes this as an outlet where people can ���connect standing rather than sitting���.