Barista aims to open 550 new stores

To put it mildly, it has been a tumultuous twelve months for the Indian-based coffee chain Barista.

Earlier on in 2014 their long-standing union with Lavazza ended as the Italians sold their controlling stake in the firm, passing on the struggling brand to Carnation Hospitality for a fee believed to be under the $15m mark.

Even though restructuring work was carried out, sales and revenue figures had decidedly dropped year after year.

However, despite these worrying financial indicators, Carnation Hospitality has unveiled plans to open 550 new stores and achieve in the region of $50 million within the next five years.

“The company-owned and –operated Barista coffee shops will focus on high streets, malls and pop-up outlets and kiosks while the franchisee owned will be opened primarily across the Middle East and Southeast Asia,” said Carnation director Sanjay Chhabra.

Currently there are 198 Barista-branded stores in operation, so these plans for expansion represent a bold move.

That said India represents a highly competitive and lucrative market for those associated with the coffee industry. As bold as they may be, if the investment can improve return down the line then Barista could, eventually, challenge the well-established entities of Café Coffee Day and Tata-backed Starbucks. 

photo: Kaustav Bahattacharya (Flickr, used under creative commons)