Barista eyes doubling India store count to 500 in 3 years

Coffee chain Barista is looking at more than doubling its stores in India to 500 and reaching 10,000 outlets for its FMCG offerings in the next two-three years, a senior company official said.

The company has expanded its fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) offerings with the launch of chocolates, cookies and coffee powder.

"Coffee consumption in India is very low compared to developed countries. We see tremendous opportunities in the coffee sector here...We are looking at operating 500 outlets and distributing our FMCG offerings through 10,000 outlets in the next 2-3 years," Barista CEO Puneet Gulati told PTI.

The majority of the Barista outlets will be opened through the franchise route, he added.

Barista, which at present has over 200 Barista Cafes and Barista Express kiosks across India, expects its FMCG offerings to account for up to 12 per cent of its bottomline (profit) by fiscal 2020 from about 5 per cent at present, he said.

The company reported revenues of about Rs 104 crore in the previous year.

It is also looking at foraying into newer geographies, mainly in countries in South Asia and Middle East, and is in initial talks with a few players to open Barista stores, Gulati said.

At present, Barista has about 20 stores outside India in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Nepal and Maldives.