Barista (company)


Barista is a global chain of espresso bars and cafes that operates in The Indian subcontinent. It is headquartered in New Delhi, India, and maintains outlets across India, and in other regional countries such as Sri Lanka, and Maldives It is the oldest coffee house chain in India and is currently India’s second-largest coffee chain with 190 outlets as of 2014. It also sells a number of consumer products through grocery stores and other outlets.

History

Early years

The chain was established in February 2000 by the Barista Coffee Company Limited under the name Barista.

Tata Group

A 34.3% equity stake was sold to Tata Coffee in 2001.

Sterling Infotech Group

C Sivasankara bought the remaining 65 per cent in Barista from the Amit Judge-controlled Turner Morrison in 2004, and his Sterling Group also bought out Tata Coffee's stake later. The coffee was supplied by the Indian roaster Fresh and Honest, headquartered in Chennai, which was also owned by the Sterling Infotech Group.
ABN AMRO and Barista Coffee Company had jointly launched a credit card, "ABN AMRO Barista Credit Card", by which customers can avail discounts at its outlets.

Lavazza

In 2007, the Sterling Group sold Barista, along with the Chennai-based Fresh and Honest roaster, to Lavazza. , the chain has 200 stores in India, with an estimated annual revenue of 200 crore.
LiveMedia and Barista Coffee Company have a strategic alliance, where 200 Barista Lavazza outlets across the country will have LiveMedia screens on their premises. Barista Lavazza has a tie-up with Visa to allow withdrawal of cash up to 1000 daily in all its outlets without any charges levied on the cardholders or any obligation to purchase. As part of this association, Barista Lavazza also offers 30% discounts on customised meal deals on all Visa debit card transactions. Barista Lavazza has formed an association with Mattel Toys Private Limited for the launch of the first edition of Barista Lavazza Cafe Scrabble 2010.

Amtek

In 2014, Lavazza sold the coffee shop chain to Carnation Hospitality Pvt. Ltd. for an undisclosed sum due to changes in the management culture of the Italian company where it stopped directly managing cafes globally. Lavazza however continues to supply the coffee to Barista through the Chennai-based Fresh and Honest roaster retained by the company.
Amtek has sought to increase the footprint of Barista by increasing the number of cafes to 500, and the number of stores selling its consumer products to 10,000, by 2022.

Bean-o-holic

Barista is the first coffee retailer in India to start a loyalty programme, Bean-o-holic, to attract and retain customers.