The Hindu Business Line : Café Coffee Day plans Rs 20-cr expansion

CAFE Coffee Day is on an expansion spree. The company is not only planning to add 30 more outlets in the domestic market, but also looking at a presence overseas with a combined investment of Rs 20 crore this fiscal.

"We were the first entrants in the café business in 1996 but our growth has always been at a measured pace. We plan to take up the number of domestic outlets to 200 from 170 by December this year so that the brand is present across 60 cities. Also, our overseas expansion plans are on course and we will set up 50 outlets in markets across the Middle East, Eastern Europe and South East Asia this fiscal," the Head - Marketing of Café Coffee Day, Ms Sudipta Sen Gupta, told Business Line here.

She said with about Rs 50-60 lakh needed to put up each new outlet, the division would put in Rs 20 crore investment in expanding its presence this fiscal. Also, Ms Sen Gupta said the company is yet to take the franchisee route to establish outlets and that all the 170 outlets of Café Coffee Day are company owned.

"But we are exploring the franchisee option for those overseas markets where this is a requirement as per that country's laws," she said.

Asked whether the company was working towards price rationalisation at its outlets to get more footfalls, Ms Sen Gupta said Café Coffee Day pricing is already as much as 30 per cent less than competition and no immediate price cuts were being planned.

The parent company of Café Coffee Day, Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading, is into several aspects of the coffee business. These include coffee exports, branded coffee powder shops, coffee vending and also branded coffee powder business besides the cafes.

Ms Sen Gupta said the café business is a separate profit centre within the company and broke even last fiscal.