The Hindu Business Line : Tata Coffee launches new retail initiative

Mr Bean Coffee Junction is the company's latest retailing initiative that not only offers freshly roasted and ground coffee blended to consumers' preference, but also allows them to taste the blend.

Mr Hamid Ashraff, Managing Director, Tata Coffee Ltd, said consumers had a choice of five different blends.

What's more, a database of the consumer's personalised taste and preferences is also maintained.

Mr Bean Coffee Junction is the first of several outlets that the company plans to roll out across South India.

The initiative will enable the brand to reach out to the entire spectrum of the coffee market from packaged coffee, roast and ground coffee to liquid coffee. The company plans to open 30 such outlets in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu through the franchisee route. Mr Bean Coffee Junction will be promoted with a number of events to build the brand, he told reporters.

Mr Ashraff said that the company was also part of a generic campaign by the Coffee Board under the auspices of the International Coffee Organisation to promote coffee in India. (This campaign would be similar to the one in Brazil, which made the country one of the largest consumers of coffee.) A task force has been formed for this purpose, he said. The company is one of Asia's largest integrated coffee conglomerates and products 10 million kg of coffee from 7,000 hectares spread over 17 estates across Chickmagalur, Coorg and Hassan districts in Karnataka.

India produces about 300 million kg of coffee every year and 80 per cent of this is exported. Mr Ashraff said that during the last year there was hardly any growth in the domestic market.