Cafe Coffee Day, part of Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Company, is looking at expanding its base in East European and Southeast Asian market in its bid to be a global player in the coffee retailing segment. The coffee retailer has 19 stores across the world, of which 18 are in the Czech Republic and Vienna along with one store in Pakistan.
“We are in talks with players in Philippines, Vietnam in Southeast Asia for acquisition of a coffee chain to enter these markets,” Shwetha Shetty, president of International Business of Cafe Coffee Day, said. The privately-held company was also looking at Eastern Europe for inorganic expansion. “I can’t give an enterprise value as it all depends on the acquisition target,” she, however, said.
Earlier, the company had acquired a coffee chain in the Czech Republic in 2010 for '15 crore. International operations contributes around 2-3 per cent to its revenue and it plans to increase this share in the near future.
“Though the present market share is not significant, future expansion plans will help in increasing our market share,” she said. Cafe Coffee Day, which has a sound domestic presence with more than 1,000 outlets across the country, is planning to increase it to 2,000 in the near future to tap the growing domestic consumption. This rising domestic coffee consumption in the last two decades also witnessed the entry of global coffee retailers like Italian Barista Lavazza and Costa. Recently, US-based Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts also announced their plans to open outlets in India.
Speaking of the rationale behind overseas expansion, she said, “It’s true that most coffee retailers are interested in opening shops here to tap domestic consumption. However, Cafe Coffee Day is not only looking at consolidating its position in the domestic market, but also wants to emerge as a global brand.”
