OBJECTIVE The objective of this project has been to understand the marketing mix of Barista and Café Coffee Day and compare the two firms in terms of their operations and other aspects. We took up organized coffee retailing as we wanted to understand what it takes to sell not only a coffee but a whole experience in a country where coffee is not as preferred & popular as tea. The firms that have ventured into coffee retailing business in the country are Café Coffee Day, Nescafe Café, Café Mocha, Georgia Coffee, Chimayo Chains owned Qwiky’s brand of coffee pubs and Barista to name a few. Out of these we chose Barista and Café Coffee Day for our study because of their popularity and wide presence in the country.
BARISTA
Barista is a specialty coffee retailer offering high quality beverages and food accompaniments. They are pioneers in establishing the concept of “organized coffee retailing as an experience for the customer” at a national level in India. It is the first Indian coffee chain that has outlets outside India as well. It traces its roots back to the old coffee houses in Italy - the hotbeds of poetry, love, music, writing, revolution and of course, fine coffee. Barista began its operation in 1999 headed by Amit Judge’s Turner Morrison Group. In a few years since then it saw Tata’s buying a stake in it, being overtaken by NRI Businessman C Sivasankaran, Chairman of the Sterling Infotech group in the year 2004 and finally the NRI selling it to the Italian coffee chain Lavazza. Presently Barista operates in India, Sri Lanka and the UAE (catering to 28 cities in India and 2 cities in UAE) with over 160 outlets and generating an annual turnover of 160 crore.
PRODUCT
What constitutes a product in an industry that deals with coffee retailing being a service industry like a restaurant? Is it just the coffee? Or is it the charming ambience, the warm yellow/cream décor, the people who frequent the place? Or is it the
References: • http://www.retailindustry.com • http://www.cafecoffeeday.com • http://www.indiantelevision.com • http://www.coffeeresearch.org • http://www.indiacoffee.org • http://www.barista.co.in • http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/catalyst/2003/10/30/11hdline.htm • http://www.brandintegrity.com/brandintegrityhomepage • http://www.tatainvestment.com/0_media/news/media/index.htm • http://www.coopdevelopmentcenter.coop/fairtrade/coffeecri