Recent recruit Sanjiv Mediratta tasked with re-fomating menu.
The Cafe Coffee Day (CCD), which has 1,200 outlets, is looking to strengthen its food services at a time when the cafe culture is set to explode in India with the entry of new players.
CCD parent Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Company Limited, which recently hired Sanjiv Mediratta, who had earlier worked with Yum! and McDonald’. He has now been given the responsibility of re-engineering the menu at outlets as part of the company’s role as group adviser, food & beverages.
The move, say industry experts, is in anticipation of an impending competition in the space. Jubilant Foodworks, which is the franchisee for American cafe chain Dunkin Donuts, will begin rollout of its outlets in the next three to four months, according to company executives.
Looming large is the much-hyped entry of global giant Starbucks, which last year entered into a sourcing agreement with Tata Coffee. Separately, Starbucks is said to be speaking to the Tata Group for launching its outlets in India.
Mediratta, who is a veteran in the food & beverage industry, will work closely with CCD executives Venu Madhav (chief operating officer) and K Ramakrishnan (president, marketing).
While Ramakrishnan and his team will provide the consumer insights, Mediratta will help get the menu in place.
Ramakrishnan says the effort is aimed at tapping into emerging opportunities in the space. “We won’t deviate from coffee. That is our mainstay,” he notes. “But within the food space, there is much that we can do.”
CCD’s endeavour, say market experts, is to increase the share of wallet of consumers as cafe chains position themselves as hangout zones.
At the moment, CCD is positioned as a value-for-money player, with average spends at an outlet varying from anywhere between Rs 100 to Rs 150 for both coffee and food put together. Rivals, in contrast, are priced much higher. According to experts, what has helped CCD become the number one player in the country is its ability to make the cafe culture accessible to all.
A key factor that has allowed CCD to price its products competitively has been the captive coffee plantations controlled by its parent ABCTL. “In that sense,” notes Ramakrishnan, “we are insulated from the volatility of coffee prices, not to mention that our supplies are also secured.”
But with global chains such as Starbucks also attempting to first secure supplies through a sourcing arrangement with Tata Coffee, market experts say the advantage that CCD has of pricing low could eclipse.
While Starbucks is positioned as a brand for the coffee connoisseur in the US, it has in other markets tweaked with its strategy to drive penetration. Dunkin Donuts, on the other hand, is known for its value-for-money offering in the US, which it is likely to maintain in a price-conscious market like India.
So what is then left for players such as CCD? Market experts say it is to work around its menu to make it enticing enough for consumers.
In the last few years, CCD has introduced an assortment of beverages. It is working on driving combo meals -- something that brands such as McDonald’s have used well in India.
