Procaffe, the Italian coffee roasting conglomerate, is all set to debut its flagship gourmet coffee bean brand Caffé Bristot in India. To start with, Caffe Bristot will be launching its complete range of coffee beans and cafe branding for Indian cafes. Over a period of time, Procaffe along with its partner is also understood to be exploring option to expand its café business under the brand Testa Rossa.
Vickram Mederata, MD, Cocolatte Foods who is the franchisee in India for Caffé Bristot told Business Standard that there are a lot of coffee chains in India who are yearning for Italian expertise and want to offer a range of specialized coffee to their customers to stand out in the clutter of coffee chains in India. “Caffé Bristot with its heritage of ninety years and deep understanding of fine gourmet coffees will bring their expertise to such coffee chains in India to draw in customers who are looking for an authentic Italian coffee experience,” Mederata said.
Though Mederata declined comment on the café business under Testa Rossa which will be expanded in India, it is reliably learnt that in addition to a small presence in India, this café chain will be expanded with multiple franchisees in the near future. This move by Procaffe to tap the Indian market comes a few years after another Italian coffee major illycaffe announced plans to set up cafés in India through the franchisee route. Even as Testa Rossa is testing the Indian market, US-based Starbucks is understood to have finalised an aggresive roll-out of atleast 50 cafes within the current fiscal. Cafe Coffee Day is the market leader in the segment with close to 1,300 cafes and is expected to add another hundred over the next year.