India’s Roastea targets 1,200+ vending machines and 30 cafés in the next year

Roastea co-founders Anurag and Chaitanya Bhamidipaty | Photo credit: Roastea

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Indian vending machine and café operator Roastea is gearing up for significant growth as it seeks to meet demand for out-of-home coffee and tea solutions.
 
The Ahmedabad-based start-up is planning to install more than 1,200 vending and grow its café footprint by 30 outlets over the next 12 months. The company is also anticipating a six-fold increase in revenues as it seeks to expand its presence across 20 cities in eight states.
 
Founded by brothers Anurag and Mr. Chaitanya Bhamidipaty in 2019, Roastea promotes itself as a complete beverage solution company specialising coffee vending machines, cafés and kiosks.
 
The start-up currently operates around 500 vending machines in 17 Indian cities and has ten café outlets in Ahmedabad, Mangalore and Bangalore.
 
“We started the company by identifying the void that the corporate coffee and tea vending has in the market,” said Roastea co-founder Anurag Bhamidipaty.
 
“The coming two years will remain crucial for us as we work assiduously to strengthen our presence in this industry. With a robust supply chain and leveraging technology to ensure smooth and seamless operations, we are confident in establishing Roastea as the first omni-channel beverage brand in India. This fiscal we expect to install about 1,200-plus vending machines as well as strengthen our B2C footprint in India by launching different formats of outlets (kiosks and cafés) in Karnataka, Gujarat and other airports,” Bhamidipaty added.
 
India’s growing café and hot beverages market provides the company with a ‘clear road map for future growth and a large addressable market’, the company added in a press release.
 
Roastea will face competition from resurgent domestic coffee chain, Café Coffee Day, which operates nearly 500 coffee shops and more than 45,000 vending machines in India.

International coffee chains are also making inroads in the Indian market, with Starbucks and Costa Coffee adding stores and Tim Hortons making its market debut in August 2022. UK coffee and food-to-go chain Pret A Manger is also planning 100 stores in India by 2028 after entering a franchise partnership with Reliance Brands Limited.