Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf will add to its unit count in India after signing a master franchise deal with Ekaagra Ostalaritza.
Compared to the rest of the world, consumers in India are much less caffeinated.
People in India drink about 30 cups of coffee per year, noted Prashant Chauhan, while the global average is 200 cups per year. Less than 10 percent are buying their morning brew from a coffee shop or café.
The way Chauhan sees it, those numbers will only go up.
“There is a shift in the consumption that we are witnessing. The cafe culture is now picking up,” said Chauhan, which is exactly why his company, Ekaagra Ostalaritza, signed a master franchise agreement to open 250 Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf locations across India in the next five years.
Starbucks, with its nearly 500 stores in more than 70 Indian cities, is the leader, continued Chauhan, who is Ekaagra’s chief strategy officer and a founding member. But several homegrown roasters and new café brands such as Blue Tokai, Subko and Greysoul entered the segment over the past two decades and are doing well.
“The space is actually buzzing,” he said. And the data back up Chauhan’s outlook.
A study from the Coffee Board of India, part of the government’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry, noted discretionary spending in the country is up, hybrid and remote work are bringing young professionals to cafes, and consumer preferences are shifting to artisanal and specialty coffees. Nearly 70 percent of non-coffee consumers are willing to try coffee at cafes, the study said.
India’s middle class, meanwhile, is expanding and now constitutes about one-third of the population—434 million of its 1.4 billion people—another expected driver of coffee sales. “More people will be getting into the consuming class as we progress,” said Chauhan. “As the money comes in, more consumption will go up.”
The deal with Singapore-based Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is the first for Ekaagra. Formed in August 2024 in Kolkata, it’s backed by Prannay Sureka, the managing director of Indian venture capital firm Alex Group of Companies.
Ekaagra’s chief strategy officer, Prashant Chauhan, says more Indian consumers are embracing cafe culture.
Chauhan, who spent about 15 years working in operations and development roles with KFC and Pizza Hut in India, pointed out Ekaagra is a Sanskrit word that means “one focus.” For the company, that focus is the consumer, he said, and is what will help it ensure Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf stands out in the market.
“When you keep the consumer in the center and being very, very intentional about their journeys in the stores and the cafes, online, offline, there is a very good chance that you will be able to stand out,” he said. “We are being intentional about every single element that can impact the consumer’s journey,” from service to menu boards and how the food offerings complement the beverage lineup.
The quality of Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf’s products—it only selects the top 1 percent of arabica beans and works directly with private, family-owned tea estates—is another differentiator, Chauhan noted. And while building awareness will take plenty of work, the brand isn’t entirely unfamiliar in the country.
It made its debut in India in 2008 and has about 30 stores, mainly in Delhi and Mumbai. Growth stagnated, prompting the company to seek a new master franchisee.
Ekaagra, said Chauhan, will bring existing units under its umbrella over the next year as sub-franchises, and will aim to develop about 30 of its own stores before signing additional sub-franchisees. Three new sites are already being outfitted, including Ekaagra’s first store in Delhi.
India, said Chief Development Officer Yousif Abdulghani, is an important growth market for Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. Owned by Philippines-based Jollibee Foods Corp., it has about 1,200 global units and a strong presence in countries such as South Korea and the Philippines; roughly 200 of its stores are in the United States.
“The coffee culture has evolved in India,” Abdulghani said, and demand for premium products is increasing as lifestyles change. Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, he continued, is positioned well.
“Our focus on quality definitely is going to be an edge, a unique selling proposition for us,” he said, in addition to the café environment.
Ekaagra, in addition to its strong financial backing, assembled a team of experienced food and beverage leaders Abdulghani said are capable of quickly scaling the brand as competitors are likewise angling to increase their presence in India.
Chief Financial Officer Dinesh Vijaywargiay came over to Ekaagra from Paradise Food Court, which operates more than 60 biryani restaurants across India. Chief Business Officer Vikram Nagpal was the CEO of Vision Hospitality Solutions, a developer of Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in the Punjab and Chandigarh area, while Head of Supply Chain Management Vikalp Yadav spent more than 10 years in similar roles at Yum Brands and chicken chain Nando’s.
The supply chain piece is always crucial to international development and more so now as extreme weather in key producing countries such as Brazil and Vietnam, plus rising global demand are pushing wholesale coffee prices to new highs. In the U.S., coffee futures—or what buyers pay for beans to be delivered from producer countries—are up 45 percent in the last six months.
Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf has an “agile supply chain,” said Abdulghani, and one that’s more regionalized than it used to be in an effort to keep costs down and minimize logistical headaches for franchisees. India is the seventh-largest producer of coffee in the world, so further localization may be possible in that market.