Apeejay Surrendra group to expand 'Cha Bar' tea lounge network

Apeejay Surrendra group is expanding its famous 'Cha Bar' tea lounge network by opening two outlets in Delhi-NCR and is looking to open 10 more this fiscal, a senior company official said Friday.

The group has opened two Cha Bar lounges in Delhi-NCR, one at prime office complex DLF Two Horizon in Gurugram and second one in Kamla Nagar, Delhi. The third one at Satya Niketan in the national capital will start this month.

"We have four company-owned Cha Bar lounges, all inside famous Oxford bookstores in Kolkata, New Delhi, Mumbai and Bhubaneswar. Now, we have opened two more Cha Bar in Delhi-NCR under franchisee model," said Nitin Warikoo, head of Cha Bar.

He said the two new Cha Bar lounges in Gurugram and Delhi are independent and not inside bookstore.

Asked about expansion plan, Warikoo said:"One Cha Bar is opening soon at Satya Niketan, Delhi. We are targeting to open 10 more lounges by March 2019 in major cities, which will be company-owned as well as franchisee".

The first Cha Bar was opened in Kolkata in 2000, he added.

"India is predominantly a tea-drinking nation where tea is a cultural preparation and at Cha Bar, we believe that there is nothing indeed like a good cup of tea. Every cup of tea that we serve is special and carries a story with it," he said.

Warikoo said the group will have control on the menu and price even in the franchisee-owned lounges.

Cha Bar offers flowering tea, organic tea, herbal tea, diet tea, fruit tea besides an exclusive range of Assam, Darjeeling, Nilgiri, Sikkim and Oolong tea.

It also has a line-up of Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Moroccan, Russian, Sri Lankan, South African and Thai tea. There are more than 150 varieties on offer on the Cha Bar menu, the company said.

Apeejay Surrendra group has 100 years of experience in tea plantation business. Cha Bar was created as an integral part of the almost 100-year old iconic Oxford Bookstore in the historic Park Street.