Australian cafe chain Di Bella Coffee is expanding its network in India with a target of opening up to 150 cafes in next three years.
"India is a very dynamic market and has tremendous potential for quality products. We plan to open 120-150 cafes in the next three years," Di Bella Coffee chairman Phillip Di Bella told PTI.
Di Bella Coffee is currently operating nine cafes with seven under fit-outs condition, he added.
However, Di Bella declined to share the amount to be invested by the company in the expansion, which has relaunched in India with a new partner A L Global Beverages Pvt Ltd.
Bullish on the country, he said: "India is a growing coffee market with the cafe industry growing at 30 per cent per annum, we do see a month-on-month rise in consumption and surely will hit large volumes as being in a country with a billion people has it own advantage."
He further said: "While the baby-boomers in India were mostly tea drinkers, today's younger generation are following the trend of their western counterparts, sipping on cappuccinos."
The company would initially focus on developed metro markets such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
Di Bella Coffee's retail expansion would be mainly through company-owned stores. It may also consider to add local partners on franchise model later on.
"We operate on a COCO (Company-Owned-Company-Operated) model, however, are open to evaluate local partners for specific territories," Di Bella said.
He said currently Di Bella imports coffee from different parts of the world and it also plans to set up its own roasting facility in India.
Founded in 2002, Di Bella Coffee has over 1,500 retail outlets globally in Australia, New Zealand, China and India.
