Elated coffee experience

Barista Lavazza with its penchant for offering better than the best to its guests has taken a step further by introducing its in-house brand of chocolate and ice-creams, the next level of indulgence in coffee. After an extensive range of chocolate blended coffees, Barista Lavazza brings signature chocolates and ice-creams to coffee aficionados. Sanjay Coutinho, Chief Operating Officer, Barista Coffee Company Ltd talks about the future plans of the company.


Shubhra Saini (SS): What kind of target audience you are aiming at for these new options on your menu (Escape to Italy)?
Sanjay Coutinho (SC): We are targeting the young adult people aged between 19 and 35, young men and women, who have contemporary lifestyles and value a great cup of coffee in a warm and friendly environment.  

SS: how do you manage low calorie drinks? Are you going to compromise on quality? 
SC: No, with low calorie drinks Barista Lavazza is not going to compromise on quality. Barista Lavazza makes sure that the products served to its guests are of the finest quality. The aim is to passionately deliver the highest level of experiential services, maintain consistency in serving the highest quality products and become a globally competitive organisation – one that is driven by an insatiable thirst for excellence.
The idea is to enhance guest experience with healthy offerings.

SS: How Barista Lavazza can give its customers a true Italian coffee house experience? Have you done some changes in the ambiance and interiors too?
SC: Barista Lavazza enhances customer experience by focusing on multiple touch-points – the design of the store, the level of its service and the quality of its products. The brand regularly refreshes its store look and feel along with the menu to keep up with the constantly changing consumer needs and trends. Introduction of Escape to Italy menu is the byproduct of the effort from Barista Lavazza to bring the experience of the authentic taste of Italy.

SS: What about your expansion plans?  
SC: In the next 3 years Barista Lavazza is planning to open 300 stores inclusive of highway stores. Within the expansion plans, Barista Lavazza will be setting up 12-15 highway stores this year. The menu will be altered a little to suit the traveller’s appetite. The localisation of food will be done to address guest needs.

SS: Do you think your new range (Escape to Italy) will help you in generating a better feedback from consumers? 
SC: We design our products using a mix of consumer trends, international F&B trends and internal consumer feedback. Our R&D team also spends adequate time behind the counter to interact with guests, understand operational issues and processes related hiccups. Thus consumer feedback is an integral part of our launch process and we will continue to innovate and launch a new line every quarter to enhance guest experience.