abCoffee Launches Their App to Revolutionize Indian Coffee scenario

Cafe X & Y has opened their second outlet to Salt Lake in Kolkata where they will be introducing its distinctive charm and heartfelt flavors to a new community. 

Since its opening in Alipore, Cafe X & Y has grown to be a well-liked hangout for delicious breakfast spreads, artisanal baked goods, and a welcoming all-day dining experience. The café was established with the goal of promoting relationships and honors the spirit of "You and Us," offering a warm environment for social gatherings and expertly prepared meals. 

Chef Vasudha Goenka, who graduated from Le Cordon Bleu, is in charge of this culinary treasure. With her skill and vision, she has transformed Cafe X & Y into a dining experience that goes above and beyond the norm. 

With two separate areas—a comfortable inside seating area for 48 people and a lovely outside patio that can hold 16—the new venue creates a warm atmosphere. 

The restaurant is ready to serve a delicious menu that combines Mediterranean and European cuisine. The mouthwatering Buttermilk Fried Chicken Burger with Cafe X & Y's famous spicy sauce, mouthwatering Pita Pockets with your selection of toppings, handcrafted Avocado and Beetroot Tartines, and zesty House-Made Tacos with your selection of fillings are all available, along with pasta made with organic flour in many varieties. Hand-selected locally, the ingredients guarantee excellent quality and freshness. The menu has been carefully designed to accommodate a range of dietary requirements, including vegan, gluten-free, vegetarian, and non-vegetarian alternatives.

Mauji Time Café, the biggest time café in India and the first in Pune, is thrilled to announce the opening of its second location in Nagpur in October. Mauji is prepared to bring its distinctive community-driven idea to Maharashtra's third-largest city after the Pune location's tremendous success and enthusiastic reception.

 A refined version of the Russian time café concept, Mauji charges patrons for the time they spend there while providing complimentary drinks. This expansion is a major step in that direction.

It is anticipated that it will be open during hours comparable to those in Pune, enabling customers to enjoy the area all day long. A range of distinctive services, such as partnerships with regional artists, workshops, pop-up markets, and exhibitions highlighting local talent, are anticipated by visitors.

Talking about this expansion, Vandita Purohit, Founder of Mauji Time Café, said, “Mauji is all about creating spaces that inspire creativity and foster a sense of community. Expanding to Nagpur is a deeply personal and exciting step in our journey, as it also happens to be my hometown. We look forward to bringing the Mauji experience to this vibrant city and creating a space where the Nagpur community can come together, connect, and thrive.”

 

Brews & Blends has opened its 2nd Café in Hyderabad at Whitefields, Kondapur. 

Established in 2017, Brews & Blends is known for high-quality, handcrafted beverages offering the beverage connoisseurs in the country a popular choice for tea and coffee lovers in India with the 1st Café at iconic T-Hub.

The brand launched its 2nd Café with the combination of Brewing and Blending, great food for giving an everlasting gastronomic impression to the guests.

“Encouraged by the wonderful response to our experience centre @ T-Hub and the inspiration from my mentor Mr. Jayesh Rangan and guide Mr. Srinivas Rao Mahankali, we are delighted to launch the 2nd Brews & Blend Café at Hyderabad. This Café will have our own elaborate range of Brews for tea and coffee and a wider choice in the menu to accentuate your tastebuds,” shared Vidyalatha Vallabhaneni, Founder of Brews & Blends.

The freshest ingredients are chosen from their natural habitat from the local farms and processed in the state of art production facilities to ensure the best possible brews are available to the beverage connoisseurs with appropriately paired delicacies in the menu.

The chic café offers pleasing interiors to elevate the experience of the guests.  The Café is adorned with ‘The Stage’ to host live performances, stand-up shows, office get-togethers, parties and casual meetings. Their ambience is suitable for every occasion including friendly get-togethers, family gatherings, romantic date nights, and even serves as a delightful retreat for remote workers seeking solace.

“We are extremely excited to launch Brews & Blends Café in Hyderabad. We are constantly looking at provide the best teas and coffee along with the best continental food options to create excitement for our guests and patrons. We want our customers to get best quality and experience.  We are planning to open 2 more cafes in next 1 year,” added Naga Shankar, Co-Founder of Brews & Blends.

Treading the cautious path after two incidents of roof collapse in Connaught Place, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has rejected 25 applications for running restaurants, cafes and other eateries in the area.

According to a senior NDMC official, among over 100 applications which were received in the past two months for grant or renewal of licence, 25 of them have been rejected.

NMDC official said, "Earlier buildings which did not have fire or structural stability certificates, were served notices and several reminders were sent to complete the required documentation while they continued to operate. But now it has been decided that no provisional licenses will be issued and if no certificates are submitted, the license will not be granted or renewed."

The roof of a building in Connaught Place's C-block, collapsed on February 2, while another roof of a one-storey building housing a popular restrobar, The Unplugged Courtyard in L-block, collapsed on February 11, triggering concerns about structural stability of the buildings in the commercial centre of the national capital.

NDMC had formed a six-member panel, comprising structural safety experts from IIT Delhi, central public works department (CPWD), NDMC and the sub divisional magistrate of the area to inspect the collapse sites and ascertain the reason behind the tragedy and conduct a safety audit of the buildings in the area.

Rollacosta owned and operated by Black Orchids Pvt Ltd is planning to open 20+ outlets in India in tier II and tier III cities.

Started in 2012 by Manav Shital and Niti Agarwal, Rollacosta has also tied an agreement in UAE to expand the brand to global diaspora.

Known for its innovative concept of preparing shawarmas and rolls, the brand will be soon opening its first outlet in Dubai.

Rollacosta focuses to deliver quality products in such a way that consumer of any age group feels happy and satisfied with the service.

Present in over 20 cities in India, the brand has launched it single ordering number and Rollacosta app which has been a huge success.

The stock of Tata Global Beverages (TGB) jumped 4.2 per cent on December 17. The gain was impressive given that the stock is down by over four per cent for the year. The trigger it announced a change of guard at one of its most promising ventures, Tata Starbucks, prompting a relief rally on the Street, reported ET.

In the past, new CEOs have positively impacted the stocks of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies. HUL, Britannia and Marico have witnessed gains on bourses after these companies appointed new leaders. A change in the top management of the Starbucks venture stems hope for a faster turnaround of the business.

The three year old joint venture, still loss-making, has opened 78 outlets in India. It was the last major trigger that pushed TGB stock up 77 per cent in 2012. The stock has since been a laggard on the Street, a reflection of the company's performance off the Street.

The global economic slowdown has impacted tea consumption resulting in the company's major business of black tea not doing well. The past two years have been particularly challenging for TGB characterised by single-digit revenue growth and operating margins of 7-8 per cent.

Its latest acquisition of MAP brand in Australia has allowed it to enter into the fast-growing single serve segment. Through coffee pods, the company is looking at making inroads into the developed markets of the US and Canada. While a rapid growth momentum may still be couple of years away, the company could just be at an inflection point in its growth trajectory.

TGB stock is trading at a trailing price-earnings multiple of 36 and is 28 per cent below its record high of Rs 181.7, hit in November 2012. Its market cap is slightly higher than its trailing four quarters revenues of Rs 7,987 crore.

Starbucks, one of the largest coffee chains, has reported a sales growth of approximately eight per cent for the fourth quarter.

According to Reuters, the shares fell more than 3 percent after the richly valued cafe chain's 2016 forecast offered little upside to Wall Street's target.

Starbucks said on Thursday global sales at cafes open at least 13 months were up 8 percent in the fourth quarter ended September 27, beating than the 6.9 percent rise expected by analysts polled by research firm Consensus Metrix.

Those sales grew 7 percent in the third quarter.

Starbucks' U.S.-dominated Americas unit contributes the majority of Starbucks' revenue. It also includes Canada and Latin America.

The Seattle-based company's net earnings jumped 11 percent to $652.5 million, or 43 cents per share.

Starbucks also forecast fiscal 2016 earnings, excluding items, of $1.87 to $1.89 per share, in line with analysts' average call for $1.88 per share.

Shares of the company fell $2.05 in after-hours trading, after closing at $62.50 on Nasdaq.

Starbucks Cafes will start offering delivery within the Empire State Building Tuesday, giving office workers in the skyscraper the option of paying a $2 fee to avoid making a trip to the lobby.

The Seattle-based coffee chain says 12,000 employees who work in the New York City building will be able to place orders on a designated website, and have their food and drinks delivered within a half hour, reported AP.

The orders will be delivered to a drop-off area, such as the office's reception desk.

Starbucks Cafes says the service is in line with its push to make its offerings increasingly convenient. By the end of this year, Starbucks also plans to roll out delivery in Seattle in partnership with Postmates.

For the Empire State Building, Starbucks said it is charging a flat $2 delivery fee which is the same whether people order a single latte or five Frappuccinos (orders are capped to 15 items).

The website does not yet have an option for tipping workers, although people might just want to give a couple extra dollars in cash anyway.

"They could, but right now we're asking our partners to politely decline (tips)," said Haley Drage, a Starbucks spokeswoman.

The delivery service in the Empire State Building will be supported by a space in the back of a Starbucks Express location in the lobby of the Empire State Building. People have to be enrolled in the Starbucks loyalty program to place orders online for the delivery service.

Drage said the company will see how the pilot program in the Empire State Building goes before expanding it to other New York City buildings.

The Empire State Building's tenants include Shutterstock, Human Rights Watch and Skanska, according to the website of parent company Empire State Realty Trust.

Travel Food Services (TFS), a subsidiary of Mumbai-based K Hospitality Corp, is looking to raise $30-35 million (about Rs 197 crore - Rs 230 crore) through private equity (PE) firms to fund its expansion plans, said a person aware of the development.

TFS, which has presence in the travel retail space, operates restaurants, cafes, food courts and lounges. The company operates food and beverage outlets in Indian airports such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata apart from the Muscat and Salalah International Airport overseas. Recently, the company won the contract to operate food and beverage outlets at Mangalore airport as well.

Last year, the company got into lounge management business and opened lounge operations at Terminal 2 of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai.

"The company is rapidly expanding its presence in the travel retail space and they are talking to a couple of private investment bankers to scout for PE investors to fund this expansion," said the person privy to the development, who did not wish to be identified.

TFS manages partner and proprietary brands including Smoke House Bar & Cafe, KFC, Domino's. The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Cafe Coffee Day and Haagen-Dazs are among the others across the country's airports. It also has partnerships with Gate Gourmet for in-flight catering and with Lagardere Travel Retail for duty free and news and books (through the Relay brand).

In an email response to ET's query on fund raising, Varun Kapur, director of TFS, said, "As part of our strategic growth and expansion process, TFS is in the process of exploring various opportunities to raise funds at an appropriate time in the future."

Early this year, the company also won the contract to develop food courts at Pune and Vishakhapatnam railway stations. With the central government's recent decision to modernize 400 railway stations in the country, TFS is betting big on this sector.

During an earlier interaction with ET, Kapur had said the company has lined up investments worth Rs 200 crore to expand its presence across airports and railways over the next 2-3 years. "We currently get 50% of our business from travel retail and the revenue from this segment has grown 50% year-on-year in the last three years," Kapur had told ET. TFS currently operates over 170 outlets at airports across the country and overseas, catering to over 90 million passengers.

K Hospitality Corp, the parent company of TFS, owns and manages brands like Copper Chimney, Irish House, Bombay Brasserie and Serafina apart from having a presence in banqueting and corporate food service business.

Travel industry experts say that the burgeoning Indian middle class indicates a strong growth potential for the food service brands in the travel retail sector.  

Starbucks, the global coffee chain whose products has been rejected by the food safety authority earlier last week said it is working with FSSAI on its pending applications after being asked to clarify on reports of the cafe chain selling rejected products in India.

In a reply to BSE, which sought a clarification on reports that Starbucks outlet is still selling products rejected by FSSAI, Tata Starbucks CEO Avani Davda said: "We are diligently working with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to provide the technical information relating to our pending applications that they have requested."

According to reports, Starbucks coffee which entered India partnership with Tata Group continues to sell products rejected by central food safety regulator FSSAI after risk assessment.

FSSAI had earlier rejected over 32 products of Tata Starbucks submitted in April.

These rejected products include coffee frappucino, vanilla syrup and hazelnut flavoured syrups, which are still sold at the cafe chain's outlet in the heart of the capital.

"As a premium global retailer, Starbucks has the highest standards for the experience, beverages and food we offer our customers and we are committed to complying with the regulations in every market we operate in," added Davda.