Ambitious target announced by the Bangalore-based boutique coffee chain as it opens a flagship store in Delhi, its 21st coffee shop in India
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A Third Wave Coffee store in Bengaluru, India | Photo credit: Third Wave Coffee
Indian boutique coffee shop and roaster, Third Wave Coffee, has opened a new flagship coffee shop in Delhi. The 70sq ft store at M-block market in the Greater Kailash II district marks the coffee chain’s 21st store in India, where it operates across the cities of Bengaluru, Pune and Delhi.
Commenting on the new store, Third Wave Coffee Founder Sushant Goel, said he wanted to capture growing demand for premium coffee among India's young population to operate 300 stores by the end of 2023.
“What keeps us going is what we’d like to call a ‘coffee-high’! It’s so addictive, we’re gearing up for a rapid expansion spree over the next couple of years. With a median age of 31, India has one of the largest young populations in the world. With most of these youngsters falling in the high disposable income group that consumes premium brands more frequently, we see a huge demand for a superior, responsibly sourced and authentic product like Third Wave Coffee that also offers a unique experience to coffee lovers. We aim to serve our exclusive blends in over 300 cafes across 20+ cities by FY ’23,” said Goel.
Founded in 2016, Third Wave Coffee sources and roasts premium and specialty coffee grown in India’s southern Karnataka and Tamil Nadu states. By March 2022, the company says it will have captured the ‘largest market share for offline specialty coffee consumption in Bengaluru’, an ambition it hopes to replicate across India.
Specialty coffee consumption and café culture remains in its nascent stages in India, but there are signs an opportune premium coffee shop market is growing. In November 2021,
Tata Starbucks CEO Sushant Dash said the Seattle-based coffee chain had expanded to nine new Indian cities in 2021, bringing its total store count in the country to around 240.
In September 2021, Indian premium coffee shop brand
Hatti Kaapi attained $1.4m investment to expand its 115 store portfolio across the country.
Europe’s largest coffee chain, UK-based Costa Coffee has also signalled confidence in the Indian market, announcing a five-year extension to its Indian franchise partnership with Devyani International Limited, which operates 40 Costa Coffee stores.