Akankshya Mukherjee(intern@imaws.org)

Barista spearheaded the Indian café culture and was given an opportunity to memorize both coffee and aptitude. No one knows coffee is superior to the Italians, Barista re-defines Italian coffee and food within the Indian subcontinent, and we salute them. Nowadays, they proceed to brew coffee the way the rest of the world does, and along the street, they have created coffee associations with clients in India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Myanmar. Barista coffee company also in talks to develop International Markets.

In an exclusive Kitchen Herald interview Mr Rajat Agrawal, CEO of Barista speaks about his journey with Barista, the new flavour for the Fall season, and new products for Christmas. Edited excerpts

How has your journey been so far with Barista?

It has been quite an exciting journey from buying the business to now running the business. The initial few years from 2014-2017 were spent stabilizing the business and looking at initiating new business verticals. Post-2017, the growth journey kicked off with us opening more than 200 outlets and launching newer verticals of business including FMCG. Even during the pandemic period, the growth journey has been quite exciting with close to 100 new stores being opened.

What are your future expectations from the Barista?

We have been able to build a strong and robust ecosystem of backend support to speed up the growth be it IT, SCM, or business support. With the current pace of growth, we are eyeing to be 500 stores over the next 2-3 years and to be seen as a clear leader in the industry. Further to add to our existing business verticals, we have already initiated our Vending business for catering to the B2B market, not launched full-fledged. We are also in advanced talks to develop our International Markets.

How does the aim and target, a goal for Barista evolve, is it something done for every season or every year?

Menu innovation is a constant feature at Barista and we keep on launching new products which are linked to seasons and the Indian festive calendar.

So, we are all curious to know about the new products launched by Barista. And also, if there are any new flavours for the fall season?

Over the last few months, we have launched Chai Latte, Saffron Frappe, and Baklava Cheesecake.

Can we expect any new beverages and quenchers as Christmas and New Year are right around the corner?

As we enter the Xmas season, we are planning to launch a few beverages around Hot Chocolate which is a preferred beverage during the winter season apart from our hot selling Plum cake which will also be launched over the next few days.

As GenZ is very much attracted towards Barista, and coffee shops, how do you plan to make changes in your food and beverage menu, especially for them?

We have launched various engagements around coffee for our guests along with a few speciality coffees. Innovation is a cornerstone for our success and our food menu has been designed keeping in mind the International experiences along with Indian Palate. Today consumers are well-informed and knowledgeable about their preferences and we at Barista make sure that we have them covered well.

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