Tata Cha to be moved from Tata Consumer Products to IHCL subsidiary

Tata Consumer Products will move its Tata Cha business, a café chain, to Qmin-Shops which is operated by a subsidiary of Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL). This will enable Tata Consumer Products to better focus on its core FMCG business, the company said.

Tata Cha currently has 12 stores across Bangalore serving beverages (tea, coffee, coolers), snacks and merchandise.  Sunil D’Souza , managing director and CEO, Tata Consumer Products said, “This is in line with our strategy of streamlining and simplifying our operations. Though it is a relatively small venture in its current form, exiting Tata Cha will enable us to sharpen focus on our core FMCG business.”

Tata Consumer Products reported a 5 per cent rise of its consolidated net profit to Rs 286 crore in the quarter ended September on a year-on-year basis. Profit before exceptional items and tax was at Rs 364 crore, also higher by 5 per cent on account of improved gross margin partly offset by higher spends behind brands.

“Our India business performed well, both our beverages and foods businesses recorded strong revenue growth with both tea and salt seeing market share gains," D’Souza said earlier.

"While the worst of tea inflation seems to be behind us, we are now seeing inflationary trends in packaging and freight costs. We will address these by further strengthening operating efficiencies and driving net revenue management,” he had added.

The company said that Tata Starbucks recorded revenue growth of 128 per cent in Q2FY22 on a relatively low base of last year, when lockdowns had impacted the business. Moreover, revenue from the brand has been on an upward trajectory each month since the opening up post the second wave of Covid in India.