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CCD has been eyeing an entry into Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and neighboring countries but according to a company official, who heads international operations said that plans got delayed and the company was still in the process of chalking out firmer plans.
“We did not want to hurry and make a mistake. We were in talks with foreign players in those countries, but things could not reach a final conclusion in multiple cases. Things have got delayed but as of now I can only say that we are still in the process of expanding internationally,” said Shwetha Shetty, president (international division), CCD.
CCD was eyeing a presence in the foreign market on the back of joint venture agreements as it felt that local expertise would help the coffee retail chain to gain a stronger foothold.
CCD is currently in Czech Republic and Vienna with around 16 stores. The company had acquired a coffee chain in the Czech Republic in 2010 for Rs 15 crore and had entered Pakistan as well in 2006, but had to shut operations due to political volatility.
However, the buzz in the industry is that with global coffee chain major Starbucks entering India, the home grown company is looking to focus more on the domestic business, which is its domain.
When contacted, K Ramakrishnan, president (marketing) CCD, said , “We do not navigate our strategies due to others who enter the market and our core focus has been the domestic market always. Competition is good as it will enhance the organised market but we are not changing our plans owing to that,” he said.
Currently there are roughly 2,000 cafes in the organised market and roughly 500-600 ‘mom-and-pop’ cafes. So there is high potential in the market, he said. The youth oriented retail coffee chain has recently announced its plan to have 2,000 outlets by 2014. Currently, it has more than 1,400 outlets across the country.
Branding expert N Chandramouli pointed out that it was always difficult to venture into new soil.
“Starbucks has entered India but they did that after a lot of evaluation and the same applies for CCD when it is looking to expand in foreign countries. While competition will make the organised market bigger, existing biggies are surely keeping a close eye to maintain the leadership,” he said.
