Lavazza, Italy's no.1 coffee brand and a major player in Indian coffee market, has announced the appointment of R Shivashankar as the Director - South Asia and Sanjay Coutinho as the Chief Executive Officer, Barista Coffee Company Ltd., India, with immediate effect. Both managers will be under the main Lavazza Business co-ordination for Asia and Pacific region markets. Lavazza entered India by acquiring Barista Coffee Company Ltd., the leading Indian coffee café chain and Fresh & Honest Café Limited, India’s leading coffee vending and retailing, company in the year 2007.
In his capacity as the Director of South Asia, R Shivashankar will oversee the co-ordination of its subsidiaries in India, both Fresh & Honest and Barista in India as well as the management of distributors in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Pakistan and Srilanka. Prior to the announcement, he was the Chief Executive Officer, Fresh and Honest Café Ltd. & a Director on the Board since 2005. He successfully transitioned the company to Lavazza management in April 2007. With over 22 years of experience, R Shivashankar has profound industry knowledge. He started his career with Madura Coats and has subsequently worked with Colgate, Seagram’s India, Hutchison and Hutch. He is a B Tech from IIT Varanasi and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata.
Sanjay Coutinho has been the Chief Operating Officer (COO), Barista Coffee Company Limited since February 2009. He has been leading from the front to grow Barista Lavazza’s business aggressively and profitably.
He brings with him an in-depth understanding and expertise of the food and retail sector, with an experience of 18 years in the retail and F&B industry. Prior to joining Barista Coffee Company Limited he has worked with Gravis Foods Private Limited, formerly known as Baskin Robbins Franchise Co. Pvt. Ltd., Pantaloons Retail India Ltd, the pizza delivery chain Domino’s Pizza India Limited, Jet Airways and the Ambassador’s Sky Chef.
About Lavazza
Luigi Lavazza S.p.A., with its origins back in 1895, is an international coffee powerhouse, synonymous with all things Italian – creativity, art, passion and of course espresso coffee. The brand enjoys a market share of 47% share in the Italian retail market (value, source: Nielsen) and operates in over 90 countries, in the Home and Away-from-Home sectors (Foodservice, Vending and Cafes). In 2008 sales exceeded $1.6 billion.
It has also launched the internationally well know FMCG coffee brands like Club, Café Espresso & Qualita Rossa in the Indian markets. Lavazza also has a strong international presence in the espresso coffee machine segment, directed towards the commercial and retail consumers through hugely successful products such as Lavazza BLUE and A Modo Mio.
About Barista Coffee Company Limited
Barista Lavazza was established in February 2000 by Barista Coffee Company Limited, to recreate the ambience and experience of the typical Italian neighborhood Espresso Bars in India. It has also been voted ‘Superbrand’ three years in succession. At present, the Barista Coffee Company Limited has over 232 Espresso Bars and Crèmes in over 30 locations in India. Besides India, Barista Lavazza also has cafes in locations across Srilanka, Bangladesh, Oman and the UAE.
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About FHCL:
Fresh & Honest Café Limited (FHCL brings the popular Lavazza range of Italian coffees to discerning coffee drinkers in various formats. It is a one-stop shop providing ‘complete beverage solutions’ in terms of supplying customers with the fully automatic Vending machines and all their coffee requirements. It has a base of over 3000 machines installed across 16 branches in 22 cities over India and has arguably become the largest player in the country both in value and volume terms.
FHCL has introduced the BLUE espresso machines with ‘capsule technology’ in the Indian market and also introduced the famous Italian coffee brands in the imported coffee FMCG segment like Club, Qualita Rossa and Café Espresso.