Barista to up number of outlets to 300 by 2012

Barista Coffee Company is planning to increase its outlets to 300 from the existing 225 by 2012, a senior company official said.

Currently, the company has around 225 Barista Lavazza Espresso Bars and Barista Lavazza Crèmes in over 30 cities across India.

"We want to increase the number of outlets to 300 by 2012," the company's Vice-President, Supply Chain Management and Commissary, Sandeep Sharma, told PTI here.

However, the growth would be more consolidation-driven than expansion, he added.

The cafe market is currently worth over Rs 5,000 crore in which Café Coffee Day (CCD) is a major player with a 60 per cent share followed by Barista with 30 per cent.

"There is a huge potential for the market to grow in the near future. We want to take advantage of this and make certain corrections in our strategy by adopting the consolidation method. Increasing the number of outlets would also be a part of the consolidation phase," he said.

The period 2012-2015 would be the actual phase of expansion for the company. "After 2012, once the market picks up, we will take the necessary steps for expansion," Sharma said.

He, however, refrained from commenting on the investment the company was planning to commit.

About the company's plans for exploring the franchisee model, Sharma said, "currently we have no franchisees and all the outlets are owned by us. However, in the future we might go in for city franchisees, where a franchiser could open four to five outlets in a city."

The company is currently operating international franchisees in Colombo, Dhaka, Dubai and a few other countries, he said.